Four states account for 64 per cent of all COVID-19 tests- PTF

Four states, – Lagos, FCT, Rivers, Ogun – account for 64 per cent of all COVID-19 tests conducted so far in the country, according to The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

The Chairman of the PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr Boss Mustapha, stated this at the PTF’s national briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

Giving a breakdown of the COVID-19 tests so far in the country, Mustapha said that seven states conducted more than 1,000 tests in the past week, as testing increased in 17 states.

However, the SGF also stated that testing declined in 12 states that included Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa, Benue and Anambra.

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On the new cases recorded across the states in the past week, Mustapha said:  “Cases increased in 23 states, as four states had increases from zero cases in the previous week.

“12 states (Sokoto, Osun, Edo, Nasarawa, Kwara, Delta, Jigawa, Taraba, FCT, Rivers, Kano, Katsina) had 100 per cent increase, which is more than double.

“By implication, the biggest increases in absolute count & percentage increase were recorded in FCT, 689 (129 per cent) Kaduna, 365 (86 per cent) and Lagos, 694  or 77 per cent of the total.”

The chairman also noted that seven states, Abia, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Cross River, Ondo, Niger, and Yobe, had not reported a single case in at least one week.

Mustapha also noted that the  PTF had since recognised the low level testing in the country, saying, “Last week, the country’s COVID-19 infections witnessed yet another significant increase after a period of low numbers.

“The analysis shows that the total number of 1,607 new confirmed cases are higher than the numbers recorded in the week of Nov. 29  to Dec. 5, when a total of 1,102 cases were recorded.”(NAN)