States, Nigerians not cooperating on COVID-19 testing - FG raises alarm
- The federal government has raised an alarm over the refusal of states and Nigerians to show up for coronavirus testing
- This was revealed by the NCDC director-general, Dr. Chikwe Ihekwazu, on Monday, June 8
- Ihekwazu is seeking the help of the House of Representatives to encourage people to show up for testing
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News
Amid the increase of coronavirus infections, the federal government raised an alarm that Nigerians and state governments were not cooperating on COVID-19 testing with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
According to Vanguard, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday, June 8, decried the refusal of Nigerians to show up for testing.
The task force appealed to the House of Representatives to educate Nigerians on the need to submit themselves for testing.
Dr. Chikwe Ihekwazu, the director-general of NCDC, speaking at an investigative hearing held by the House of Reps Public Account Committee, noted that it was unfortunate that state governments are not cooperating with the federal health agency in the testing process.
Source: Facebook
While lamenting on not knowing how the COVID-19 pandemic would last, the NCDC boss said that presently the viral disease is at the community transmission level.
Ihekwazu said even though NCDC has the capacity to carry out over 200,000 tests per day, so far Nigeria has only carried out about 100,000 tests.
He stressed the refusal of people to cooperate would make it difficult to ascertain the level of infection in the country in order to allow for proper planning if people were not tested.
“It is unfortunate that state governments are not cooperating with us on the issue of testing. Many Nigerians are also not coming forward to be tested. We are pleading with lawmakers to help the PTF talk to people in the grassroots to come forward for testing,” he said.
The NCDC DG also noted that the refusal of Nigerians to make themselves available for testing was partly responsible for the low number of testing.
He said it was unlikely that Nigeria has got to the peak of the pandemic, saying it might be safer to say Nigeria was at the beginning of a major pandemic.
PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
Meanwhile, the federal government has so far released the total sum of N22.163 billion to the PTF on COVID-19 since the war against coronavirus began in the country.
This was disclosed by the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha on Monday, June 8.
He was speaking at the investigative hearing on the management and utilization of the funds accrued into the COVID-19 coffers so far including grants and other resources, held by the House committee on public accounts.
In other news, the federal government has again said that parents and school children would have to wait a little more, insisting that the schools remain shut for now.
The minister of state for education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, made this known at the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 news briefing.
He described as fake news timetables purported released from the ministry of education on the conduct of West African Examination Council Examinations (WAEC) being circulated on the social media.
Coronavirus: Is it time to reopen churches, mosques? | - on Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
