Without NCDC’s supervision, Kogi says it tested 111 for COVID-19 and all returned negative
After weeks of public outrage over its refusal to test suspected cases of COVID-19, the Kogi State government said it has tested 111 people and their results returned negative. The state has been under public scrutiny in the last two weeks over its zero COVID-19 case as confirmed cases in Nigeria gradually approach 5,000.
Kogi and Cross River States are the two of the 36 states in Nigeria without any reported case of coronavirus nearly three months after the country reported its index case on Friday February 28, 2020.
While the case of Cross River has not raised serious concerns, the same cannot be said about Kogi State which has been a point of controversy with its handling of the pandemic. Neusroom reported that the state’s refusal to carry out any COVID-19 test as of last Friday sparked outrage on the internet as many Nigerians called on the federal government to send relevant agencies to the state on fact finding mission over claims that the state may be hiding information about coronavirus from the public. They had argued that the action of the state governor Yahaya Bello could jeopardise the gains so far recorded over the virus in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Kogi State also expressed concerns over the state’s refusal to test suspected cases of COVID-19 and said it fears that the consequences of not testing people for the COVID-19 may be too enormous to deal with.
The State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna, in his reaction had said the state is under pressure to announce that it has coronavirus cases when there is none, and added that the state would not succumb to such pressure.
When the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) sent its officials to the state last Thursday to assist the state to boost its testing capacity, Bello insisted that before they are allowed to commence their assignment, they had to go on 14-day isolation and tote team reportedly left the state.
The state has now said it has tested 111 people for the virus but their results returned negative. Its Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, in a statement on Tuesday, however, said the tests were conducted on the persons without the supervision of officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“Kogi state got testing kits independently but followed NCDC guidelines. One hundred and eleven COID-19 rapid tests were conducted in Kogi state yesterday and all results came out negative,” the Commissioner said.
“We shall not go to streets to pick people to be tested for COVID-19, but hospitals where people with similar symptoms are found and also based on any information of suspected cases.”
The Kogi model is against the usual NCDC protocol adopted by other 34 states where cases have been reported. Since the outbreak and spread of the virus to other parts of the country, other states have been work in partnership with the centre to manage COVID-19 response activities.
According to the advisory of NCDC website, the Federal Ministry of Health through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) activated a national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for the coordination of COVID-19 activities in the country.
The NCDC according to its COVID-19 protocol works closely with the state governments through the deployment of national Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to support response activities including contact tracing. Kogi has, however, decided to stand alone in the COVID-19 battle while others put hands together with the federal government agency.
The spokesperson of the NCDC, Emeka Oguanuo, did not pick calls, neither did he respond to a text message and email sent by Neusroom correspondent.
