In Umuahia on Friday, the Health commissioner Dr. Joe Osuji made the observation with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
The Commissioner for Health in Abia State reveals that many Abia residents don’t believe the reality of coronavirus. (Vanguard)P. Ravikumar/Reuters
The commissioner for health in Abia regretted that the people believed that the state government is using it to collect money from the Federal Government or donor agencies.
“But No! The truth remains that COVID-19 is real and will stay with us. So we have to be extremely careful in its containment,” he said.
Osuji said that a lot of people have been tested now following the installation of the COVID-19 test laboratory in the state.
He said that four testing machines had already been installed, while 16 more would be installed by next week.
NAN reports that the machines were installed during the week at the General Hospital, Amarachara, one of the testing centres in the state.
“Since we have a testing centre, the other one will be ready by next week at Aba, where we can now take samples anytime and test anytime and collect our results immediately,” he said.
Osuji ruled out the possibility of random testing as suggested by some people, saying that patients had to be examined before the sample collection.
“We are having cases now in the state because we are testing a lot of people now,’’ Dr. Joe Osuji said.
Abia Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Osuji, says the major problem confronting the fight against COVID-19 in the state is people’s disbelief that the virus is real.
