The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says it does not provide results of COVID-19 tests to individuals, but instead sends them to states.
The NCDC said this hours after chairman of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, complained that he was discharged having earlier contracted COVID-19, without seeing results of tests conducted by the agency.
He had said: “Whilst I can attest to my improvement in physical health and wellbeing, I regret to say that since my initial test to date, I have never seen any documentary evidence of any test result.
“I take it in trust and good faith that the NCDC pronounced me COVID-19 positive and that they have now also pronounced me COVID-negative. I will appreciate it if the documentary records of the various tests on me and members of my family are made available for our medical records.
He had also said such “lapses” could make patients to lose confidence in public healthcare providers.
But writing via its Twitter handle on Friday, the NCDC said it only coordinates communication of test results between its laboratories and states.
“It is important to emphasise that the NCDC does not provide results to individuals,” it said.
“Our role as the national public health institute is to coordinate the communication of results between testing laboratories and States, who then communicate with individuals.”
Yes result are provided to and communicated to States because it is State sponsored disease…