Athletes and officials in the Kogi contingent to the 20th National Sports Festival (NSF) in Benin have tested negative for COVID-19, the state Director of Sports, Onipe Halli, has said.
Halli told newsmen on Sunday in Benin that the result was also affirmed by the Local Organising Committee (LOC).
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all athletes and officials at the sports fiesta tagged “Edo 2020” underwent COVID-19 screening at the games village in the University of Benin.
Halli noted that the Chairman of the games’ Local Organising Committee (LOC) and Deputy Governor of Edo, Philip Shaibu, had earlier said two athletes from Taraba and Oyo State failed the test.
He said the results had therefore further vindicated the position of Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi that there was no coronavirus in the state.
“All team members that made up the Kogi contingent to the 2020 NSF tested negative for the COVID-19 virus after series of tests conducted by the medical team.
“The contingent was subjected to rigorous tests by the team from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and were all declared negative.
“After the test which is a pre-requisite for all athletes and officials to participate in the games, all 41 athletes and 35 officials from Kogi tested negative,” Halli said.
The Kogi Director of Sports said the state contingent received their COVID-19 test results on Sunday while other states still awaited their results.
NAN recalls that Kogi government had engaged in a face-off with the NCDC over the situation of coronavirus in the state.
The state, however, recorded five confirmed cases of the virus with zero deaths, a position the NCDC insisted was occasioned by lack of adequate testing in the state.
