Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government said states yet to record coronavirus case have done enough testing.
National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce (PTF), on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, made this disclosure at the daily briefing on Monday.
According to him, some states have sent less than 10 samples, appealing to those who haven’t done enough testing to do so and send samples.
Aliyu said: “I will refer to other issues, especially as it relates to state Chief Executives.
“On behalf of the PTF, I am appealing to state governors to please continue to support the existing structures, particularly the state emergency operating centres and the Chief Executives as well as their staff, these people are at the forefront of the pandemic. They need to be supported a hundred percent to be able to deliver their work and specifically, we’ll like to reemphasize that there’s no limit to testing when it comes to COVID-19.
“COVID-19 numbers is not an issue of competition between states, there’s no shame if a state comes out with positive numbers. In order to deal with an epidemic, we need to have transparency in numbers and that transparency is linked to the number of tests. If you do not know the extent of a problem, you will not be able to deal with it.
“So I’m appealing to state governments to please continue to support the state emergency operating centres, the State Ministry of Health and make sure that everybody who needs to be tested for COVID-19 in any state in the country has that opportunity of having the test done.
“In addition to this, I will like to remind state governments that there are a number of states that continue to have inadequate capacity for isolation. Now is the time to correct this before the numbers start going up. I’m appealing to state Chief Executives to please make sure where you do not have adequate isolation facilities to do so.
“The PTF has already put 300 as per state minimum number of isolation beds that should be available in every state.
“In terms of public awareness, we continue to intensify efforts to support the fight against COVID-19 across the nation. We have reached out through our sensitisation campaign, working with our traditional and religious leaders, as well as existing health structures, such as the polio eradication programme, to reach the grassroots with our messages.
“The task force is also implementing training programmes for health media reporters on effective massaging and COVID-19 reporting.
“Finally, I’ll like to encourage Muslim faithfuls to continue to comply with the Ramadan protocols. The task force continues to run communication campaigns down to the grassroots on observing the holy month of Ramadan in the safety of our homes.”