Plans are afoot by the Federal Government to open more laboratories to test for suspected cases of coronavirus in the country to bring the number of such facilities from six to 13.
The move is coming on the heels of an approval by President Muhammadu Buhari to procure more resources to fight the Novel Coronavirus ( COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the country.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said this at the the daily Coronavirus Presidential Task Force briefing, on Monday in Abuja
He said that the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) had also been empowered to expand its capacity to test for COVID-19.
“The NCDC is working round the clock to improve turn-around time for testing in all our six molecular laboratories. We aim to scale up to 13 labs in next three weeks. In progress- Abakaliki, Maiduguri, Kano, Sokoto, Port-Harcourt, Jos and Kaduna States,” he said.
He, however said that Nigerians should be aware that testing for the virus is free of charge.
Ehanire said that the lockdown may cost Nigerians some inconveniences, but it was important in the fight against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has said it would deploy relief materials to communities most affected by the lockdown.
Umar-Farouq said this would be for residents of satellite towns and communities around Lagos and Abuja whose livelihoods would be affected by some of these restrictive measures.
She said that her ministry were working with State Governors in developing a strategy on how to sustain the school feeding programme during this period without compromising their social distancing policies.
She added that she was in touch with the relevant agencies for the implementation of all TraderMoni , MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans and other engagements as directed by the President.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government has announced the second death from Novel COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the country.
The victim is said to have an underlying medical conditions.
