The Next Edition
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate
No Result
View All Result
The Next Edition
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate
Home Top News

COVID-19: 2,000 Tests In One Month Not Enough – Rep

Next Edition by Next Edition
April 2, 2020
in Top News
COVID-19: 2,000 Tests In One Month Not Enough - Rep

Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu)

0
SHARES
2
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), has described the 2,000 COVID-19 tests so far carried out in country as insufficient for Nigeria.

Okechukwu called for upgrade of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratories across the country to facilitate mass-testing for the virus.

You might also like

JAMB Hires IT Experts To Probe Alleged UTME Glitches

Tinubu Bags Lifetime African Achievement Award In Ghana

NDLEA Uncovers Hidden Drug Storage Inside Fuel Tanker

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, Okechukwu observed that laudable as it was to lockdown parts of the country, keep people indoors, and track over 6,000 contacts, the country must also rapidly ramp up its testing capabilities to expand beyond the current seven test centres.

He said: “The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has told us that only 2,000 Nigerians have been tested in over one month of combating COVID-19. This figure is quite low for a country of about 200 million people.

“Our first line of responsibility on this, therefore, is to ensure that testing services are available in, at least, all the states of the federation. If we are tracking over 6,000 contacts, then we need more testing facilities.

“We just have to scale it up across the country to enable us ascertain the true extent of the outbreak in the country. Let us know how many Nigerians that are exposed, let us isolate, and let us test maximally.”

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Five More Patients Make Full Recovery, Leave Lagos Hospital

The lawmaker urged the Federal Ministry of Health and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to urgently upgrade the 34 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratories to COVID-19 testing centres.

Okechukwu thanked all the donors, even as he urged the Presidential Task Force to be project-specific with the donations, paying attention to such facility upgrades.

He also stressed the need for timelines for proper evaluation of progress, just as he acknowledged that as with other parts of the world, the virus seemed to be dictating the timeline.

According to him, the nation should work towards setting timelines so that Nigerians would monitor progress and match it with expended resources.

“There are critical aspects here, such as prevention, testing, tracking, isolation, case management, dealing with the social interventions, and of course evaluation.

“For instance, how many Nigerians do we intend to test by the end of April? How many new testing centres are we expecting?” he added.

Okechukwu commended the joint efforts of all Nigerians in public and private sectors, especially the nation’s healthcare professionals, who he said, were in the frontlines of the war against the pandemic.

He called on all Nigerians to adhere to all the guidelines and directives issued by National Centre for Disease (NCDC) and various levels of government to stop the spread of the virus.

Tags: 2000 Tests In One Month Not EnoughCovid-19Deputy Minority Leader of the House of RepresentativesDirector-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease ControMr. Toby Okechukwu (PDP Enugu)Rep
Next Edition

Next Edition

Recommended For You

JAMB Eases Restrictions On Services To Aid pre-2020 Candidates

JAMB Hires IT Experts To Probe Alleged UTME Glitches

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has engaged top IT experts and educational assessment professionals to investigate alleged technical glitches that marred the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination....

Palliative: FG Approves N5bn For States, LGs

Tinubu Bags Lifetime African Achievement Award In Ghana

President Bola Tinubu has bagged the Lifetime African Achievement award from the Millennium Excellence Foundation based in Ghana, NAN reports on Monday. Tinubu, while receiving the award, commended...

NDLEA Uncovers Hidden Drug Storage Inside Fuel Tanker

NDLEA Uncovers Hidden Drug Storage Inside Fuel Tanker

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted a fuel tanker that was modified to conceal and transport illicit drugs across Nigeria.   NDLEA’s Director of...

Lagos task force clears container trucks

20-ft Container Falls, Kills Two Dispatch Riders In Lagos

Two dispatch riders have lost their lives after a 20-feet container fell on them during a collision involving two fully loaded Mack trucks on Eko Bridge inward Alaka...

Next Post
Buhari Meets With Presidential Committee Assessing Impact Of Coronavirus On Nigeria’s Economy

Buhari Meets With Presidential Committee Assessing Impact Of Coronavirus On Nigeria’s Economy




Related News

Flood Destroys 110 Houses In Zamfara

Flood Destroys 110 Houses In Zamfara

Why Mental Health Remains Major Issue in Nigeria – Dr. Maymunah Kadiri

INTERVIEW: Why Mental Health Remains Major Issue in Nigeria – Dr. Maymunah Kadiri

60 tourists rescued from sinking ferry

60 tourists rescued from sinking ferry




The Next Edition

Office Address

3B, Agboola Aina street, Off Toyin Street,
Ikeja, Lagos.

Quick Contact Details

Phone:
08033018430
Whatsapp:
08051679910

Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Categories

  • Aviation
  • Beauty
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Columnists
  • Editorial
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion
  • Featured
  • Football
  • Foreign
  • Headline News
  • Home & Garden
  • Interviews
  • Investigations
  • North Central
  • North East
  • North West
  • Opinion
  • Parenting
  • Politics
  • Relationships
  • South East
  • South West
  • South-South
  • Special Reports
  • Sports
  • Top News
  • Vox Pops

© Next Edition Business Development Limited

  • About Us
  • Advert Rate
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate

© Next Edition Business Development Limited