Data management during COVID-19 outbreak response in Ghana: a reference labor atory perspective on key issues and measures
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ghana Med J
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is an important subject for global health. Ghana experienced low moderate transmission of the disease when the first case was detected in March 12, 2020 until the middle of July when
the number of cases begun to drop. By August 24, 2020, the country's total number of confirmed cases stood at 43,622,
with 263 deaths. By the same time, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) of the University
of Ghana, the primary testing centre for COVID-19, had tested 285,501 with 28,878 confirmed cases. Due to database
gaps, there were initial challenges with timely reporting and feedback to stakeholders during the peak surveillance
period. The gaps resulted from mismatches between samples and their accompanying case investigation forms, sam ples without case investigation forms and vice versa, huge data entry requirements, and delayed test results. However,
a revamp in data management procedures, and systems helped to improve the turnaround time for reporting results to
all interested parties and partners. Additionally, inconsistencies such as multiple entries and discrepant patient-sample
information were resolved by introducing a barcoding electronic capture system. Here, we describe the main chal lenges with COVID-19 data management and analysis in the laboratory and recommend measures for improvement.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
COVID-19, data management, laboratory diagnosis, surveillance, pandemic