Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa State Ministry of Health and Deputy Chairman of the State COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Inodu Akpoku has disclosed that out of 600 students currently writing the WAEC examination in the state, 20 have tested positive to the dreaded virus.
He made the disclosure during a meeting with Governor Douye Diri on Tuesday.
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The state government has also inaugurated an N80 million COVID-19 Molecular Laboratory, Research and Diagnostic Centre at the State Medical University in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Governor Diri, while commissioning the laboratory yesterday said with the opening of the centre, the state will no longer travel long distances or wait for weeks for sample results from Edo and Rivers States.
He said: “Because of the pressure at Edo and Rivers State Testing Centre, there were some results that came in here a month after and some about two months later, and we were very determined to ensure that we have our own test centre.”
He said apart from COVID-19, Lassa fever, Cholera, other virus tests will be done in the centre.
The Consultant Molecular Biologist of the Centre, Professor Tatfeng Mirabeau, said the Centre has a maximum testing capacity of 150 samples daily, pointing out that it was still undergoing validation by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and will commence operations after the validation.
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