He said the state has recorded a number of suspected cases but without tests, such cases could not be ascertained to be positive or negative.
Zubair stated this on Thursday while reacting to the report by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control that only one test sample has been sent in by the state since the start of the pandemic which returned negative.
He explained that the challenge of inadequate testing led to agitation from members of the Association of Resident Doctors, who said they have been receiving suspected cases of the virus at the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja.
He said, “Although no confirmed case has been reported in Kogi State till date, a number of suspected cases have been attended to at FMC Lokoja and members of ARD are among the first to attend to these patients and as such, they might be exposed to the highly contagious COVID-19.
“The NMA is aware that they have become agitated and apprehensive in the last few months due to the community spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“As a clinician, standard practice demands that the moment you have a clinical suspicion of infectious diseases, the ideal thing is to carry out laboratory confirmation.
“COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease responsible for the ongoing global pandemic. In Nigeria, new cases are reported daily and community spread is accelerating. This is the reason why members of ARD are agitated as testing for COVID-19 has remained a challenge in the state.”
(Punch)
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