Health Ministry in a circular has directed all public health testing laboratories not to charge residents in Ghana for COVID-19 testing.
In a communiqué to all public health testing laboratories dated January 27, 2021, the ministry said it “has decided that public COVID-19 testing laboratories providing walk-in services can charge only charge travellers for testing”.
The ministry also said, “all other walk-in requests such as ill-health, contact tracing and exposure must be done free-of-charge using public health resources.”
There have been concerns over the cost of and access to testing amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Ghana.
For persons who are able to test, there are questions about the timelines for the delivery of test results.
The Ghana Health Services has said test results should be ready within 48 hours.
Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the service’s director said the average turnaround time for COVID-19 test results was 48 hours when he was interviewed on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday.
