From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi Government has target 450 samples of testing of people on COVID 19 per local government in all the 21 Council areas in the state within two weeks.
The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Ja’afar Muhammad,disclosed this during a ramp -up testing of COVID 19 programme state level training for LGA health personnel in Birnin Kebbi on Monday.
According to him,” the state level training of ramp up test in the state, is aimed at mitigating the impact of the covid-19 pandemic. We deemed it fit to ramp up sample collection, and equally laboratory testing with a view to significantly increase sample collection and laboratory testing in the state.”
According to him, the laboratory testing will enable the government to seal up with its testing in various local government areas of the state.
Muhammad also added that state government was requested by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),to have, at least, minimum of 450 sample from each of the 21 LGAs of the state in the ramp up testing programme.
He said: “the programme is going to take place within two weeks so that it will enable us to collect sample and test the sample.
“From the sample, we will be able to have an indication or an idea on spread or transmission of COVID 19 generally in the state.
“From the standing, we have been doing community case searching in order to be doing testing , and we are going to improve , by rigorous inputs interns of sample collection and testing that will be able to afford us do many sample and testing in order to meet the national criteria,” he said.
The commissioner appealed to all the participants from each of the 21 LGAs to take the training seriously in order to meet up with the required anticipated objective of having the minimum of 9,450 testing in the state.
Dr Haliru Aminu Bunza,the Chief Medical Director of Sir Yahyah Memorial General Hospital in his lecture,urged the people of the state to adhere to proper hygiene and observe COVID 19 protocol.
Bunza explained that there are 509 different of COVID 19 variants in the world,stressed that,since hospitals in Nigeria lack the capacity to treat sick patients with COVID 19,the only way to curb the disease is to ensure proper protection.
In his presentation on the update of COVID 19 cases in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu Muhammed the Director Public Health, state Ministry of Health, said that the state, which had a population of 4,864,567, recorded 4,397 cases so far.
“We have 306 positive cases; and the positivity rate is 8.7 per cent; and the total death is 13, while fatality rate is 4.6 per cent,” he said.
