Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa
<h4>Background</h4> The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11 2020, by the World Health Organisation prompted the need for a sustained and a rapid international response. In a swift response, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with Zipline company, launched the use of Un...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9624400/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1798044752177790976 |
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| author | Augustina Angelina Sylverken Michael Owusu Bernadette Agbavor Alex Kwarteng Nana Kwame Ayisi-Boateng Patrick Ofori Philip El-Duah Richmond Yeboah Sherihane Aryeetey Jesse Addo Asamoah Rita Ziem Ekekpi Morrah Oppong Richmond Gorman Kofi Adjei Brempong Emmanuella Nyarko-Afriyie Felix Owusu Bonsu Rita Larsen-Reindorf Michael Rockson Adjei Gifty Boateng Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe Badu Sarkodie Dennis O. Laryea Emmanuel Tinkorang Patrick Kumah Aboagye Anthony Nsiah Asare Kwasi Obiri-Danso Ellis Owusu-Dabo Yaw Adu-Sarkodie Richard Odame Phillips |
| author_facet | Augustina Angelina Sylverken Michael Owusu Bernadette Agbavor Alex Kwarteng Nana Kwame Ayisi-Boateng Patrick Ofori Philip El-Duah Richmond Yeboah Sherihane Aryeetey Jesse Addo Asamoah Rita Ziem Ekekpi Morrah Oppong Richmond Gorman Kofi Adjei Brempong Emmanuella Nyarko-Afriyie Felix Owusu Bonsu Rita Larsen-Reindorf Michael Rockson Adjei Gifty Boateng Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe Badu Sarkodie Dennis O. Laryea Emmanuel Tinkorang Patrick Kumah Aboagye Anthony Nsiah Asare Kwasi Obiri-Danso Ellis Owusu-Dabo Yaw Adu-Sarkodie Richard Odame Phillips |
| author_sort | Augustina Angelina Sylverken |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4> The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11 2020, by the World Health Organisation prompted the need for a sustained and a rapid international response. In a swift response, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with Zipline company, launched the use of Unmanned Automated Vehicles (UAV) to transport suspected samples from selected districts to two foremost testing centres in the country. Here, we present the experiences of employing this technology and its impact on the transport time to the second largest testing centre, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) in Kumasi, Ghana. <h4>Methods</h4> Swab samples collected from suspected COVID-19 patients were transported to the Zipline office by health workers. Information on the samples were sent to laboratory personnel located at KCCR through a WhatsApp platform to get them ready to receive the suspected COVID-19 samples while Zipline repackaged samples and transported them via drone. Time of take-off was reported as well as time of drop-off. <h4>Results</h4> A total of 2537 COVID-19 suspected samples were received via drone transport from 10 districts between April 2020 to June 2021 in 440 deliveries. Ejura-Sekyedumase District Health Directorate delivered the highest number of samples (765; 30%). The farthest district to use the drone was Pru East, located 270 km away from KCCR in Kumasi and 173 km to the Zipline office in Mampong. Here, significantly, it took on the average 39 minutes for drones to deliver samples compared to 117 minutes spent in transporting samples by road (p<0.001). <h4>Conclusion</h4> The use of drones for sample transport during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the travel time taken for samples to be transported by road to the testing site. This has enhanced innovative measures to fight the pandemic using technology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:09:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f7de49702b0b4c7491dac116c0067a5c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:09:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-f7de49702b0b4c7491dac116c0067a5c2022-12-22T03:57:55ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011711Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West AfricaAugustina Angelina SylverkenMichael OwusuBernadette AgbavorAlex KwartengNana Kwame Ayisi-BoatengPatrick OforiPhilip El-DuahRichmond YeboahSherihane AryeeteyJesse Addo AsamoahRita Ziem EkekpiMorrah OppongRichmond GormanKofi Adjei BrempongEmmanuella Nyarko-AfriyieFelix Owusu BonsuRita Larsen-ReindorfMichael Rockson AdjeiGifty BoatengFranklin Asiedu-BekoeBadu SarkodieDennis O. LaryeaEmmanuel TinkorangPatrick Kumah AboagyeAnthony Nsiah AsareKwasi Obiri-DansoEllis Owusu-DaboYaw Adu-SarkodieRichard Odame Phillips<h4>Background</h4> The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11 2020, by the World Health Organisation prompted the need for a sustained and a rapid international response. In a swift response, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with Zipline company, launched the use of Unmanned Automated Vehicles (UAV) to transport suspected samples from selected districts to two foremost testing centres in the country. Here, we present the experiences of employing this technology and its impact on the transport time to the second largest testing centre, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) in Kumasi, Ghana. <h4>Methods</h4> Swab samples collected from suspected COVID-19 patients were transported to the Zipline office by health workers. Information on the samples were sent to laboratory personnel located at KCCR through a WhatsApp platform to get them ready to receive the suspected COVID-19 samples while Zipline repackaged samples and transported them via drone. Time of take-off was reported as well as time of drop-off. <h4>Results</h4> A total of 2537 COVID-19 suspected samples were received via drone transport from 10 districts between April 2020 to June 2021 in 440 deliveries. Ejura-Sekyedumase District Health Directorate delivered the highest number of samples (765; 30%). The farthest district to use the drone was Pru East, located 270 km away from KCCR in Kumasi and 173 km to the Zipline office in Mampong. Here, significantly, it took on the average 39 minutes for drones to deliver samples compared to 117 minutes spent in transporting samples by road (p<0.001). <h4>Conclusion</h4> The use of drones for sample transport during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the travel time taken for samples to be transported by road to the testing site. This has enhanced innovative measures to fight the pandemic using technology.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9624400/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Augustina Angelina Sylverken Michael Owusu Bernadette Agbavor Alex Kwarteng Nana Kwame Ayisi-Boateng Patrick Ofori Philip El-Duah Richmond Yeboah Sherihane Aryeetey Jesse Addo Asamoah Rita Ziem Ekekpi Morrah Oppong Richmond Gorman Kofi Adjei Brempong Emmanuella Nyarko-Afriyie Felix Owusu Bonsu Rita Larsen-Reindorf Michael Rockson Adjei Gifty Boateng Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe Badu Sarkodie Dennis O. Laryea Emmanuel Tinkorang Patrick Kumah Aboagye Anthony Nsiah Asare Kwasi Obiri-Danso Ellis Owusu-Dabo Yaw Adu-Sarkodie Richard Odame Phillips Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa PLoS ONE |
| title | Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa |
| title_full | Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa |
| title_fullStr | Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa |
| title_short | Using drones to transport suspected COVID-19 samples; experiences from the second largest testing centre in Ghana, West Africa |
| title_sort | using drones to transport suspected covid 19 samples experiences from the second largest testing centre in ghana west africa |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9624400/?tool=EBI |
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