All Nigerians should get tested for COVID-19 ― PTF

The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has r e c o m m e n d e d testing of all Nigerians as a way to track the prevalence of COVID-19 infection and understand how to tackle it.

This is at it says that it has increased testing capacity by establishing more sample collection centres around the country to enable more citizens to get tested.

The chairman of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, who stated these at its briefing in Abuja on Monday said: 

As we progress in this phase and acknowledge that testing capacity has to be increased, we encourage as many Nigerians as possible to get tested as we have expanded the network of sample collection centres.

In Abuja, a sample collection centre has been set up at Thisday Dome and all government hospitals in the Federal  Capital  Territory (FCT) have been designated as sample collection centres. While noting that the minister of health will  provide details on this in due course, Mustapha further stated: “Getting tested is the only sure way of making sure we know the prevalence of the virus and understand how  to tackle it effectively.

He said the visit of some media houses, over the weekend, to the Asokoro Observation Centre, Abuja and their interactions with some patients should give Nigerians the comfort to get tested and treated if necessary. He reiterated  that contracting COVID-19 is not a death sentence “but not presenting yourself for testing or treatment when symptoms become observable could likely lead to avoidable death.”

The SGF maintained that government meetings should be conducted virtually until further notice while all unnecessary travels for meetings by government officials are also suspended till further notice. Monday’s briefing followed the PTF’s review of its last three months (midterm) since setting up of the national response strategy.