Nigeria: Oyo state commences COVID-19 drive-walk through testing as FG targets 3000 per day
London, April 15, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde of on Tuesday flagged off the COVID-19 Drive/Walk Through Testing programme in the state aimed at controlling the spread of the virus.
READ ALSO: UK HIDDEN CORONAVIRUS DEATHS: HUNDREDS OF ELDERLY DYING IN CARE HOMES THAN GOVERNMENT CLAIMS
The flag off began same day the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it would start testing 3000 samples per day in Lagos State and Abuja.
Makinde, while speaking at the flag-off of the programme in Ibadan, said 2,000 people would be tested during the exercise that would last for two weeks.
He disclosed that the aspiration of Oyo state government was to test up to 10,000 people within the shortest possible time.
The Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu told a popular TV programme in Nigeria, AIT’s Newshour that the choice of Abuja and Lagos for the 3000 per day testing was because both places were the hardest hit by coronavirus and have been under lockdown since the end of March.
“To measure efficiency in #COVID19 testing, we set a target to test 2000 samples per day in Lagos & 1000 per day in Abuja,” Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu said on AIT’s Newshour.
“Sometimes it’s not a lack of resources that may lead to inefficiency but the inability to connect the dots.”
Ihekweazu further stated that the lockdown was a difficult decision but a short term strategy to prevent an exponential increase in Covid19 cases.
He said the commission will use the next 2 weeks as efficiently as possible to allow the economy to restart in order to protect the health of Nigerians.
As at 11 pm 14th April, there are 373 confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported in Nigeria. 99 have been discharged with 11 deaths.
Eleven new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Lagos State.
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 14, 2020
As at 11:00 pm 14th April there are 373 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. 99 have been discharged with 11 deaths#TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/XtcbJ4qxA6
In other to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country, The Federal Government had shutdown Lagos State, Ogun State, and the capital city Abuja.
Other Nigerian states have also announced some measures to curb the spread of the virus.
