Lagos has spent N800 million on COVID-19 testing, says commissioner

• ‘37,589 households to benefit from home-grown feeding programme in four weeks’
• NMA suspends sit-at-home strike

TRACKING___Lagos State government yesterday said it had conducted 16,000 COVID-19 tests so far at the average cost of N40,000 to N50,000. It, therefore, said it had spent averagely about N800 million on testing alone.

The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, stated this while giving updates on state government’s efforts to curb and manage Coronavirus, ignoring the question on how much the state government is spending averagely to treat a COVID-19 patient.

The commissioner stated that by the time the state government gets to homes of persons that have been tested positive or suspected to be positive, they would have run away.

According to him, it is the reason the state government is looking at integrating the concept of home-based care of COVID-19 patients. The commissioner, who advised Lagosians to present themselves for test and guide against stigmatisation of COVID-19 patients, said that the state government was planning to role out the chloroquine trial, which will be on preventive and treatment bases.

Meanwhile, the state government has said that the 37,589 households that would benefit from the Lagos Home-Grown School Feeding programme would be reached in the next four weeks.

Executive Chairman of Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Wahab Alawiye-King, disclosed this at the flag-off ceremony of the distribution of take home rations in fulfilment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that school feeding should continue despite school closure.

According to him, the distribution would continue today at seven local councils, which have 52 of the 202 distribution centres.

In another development, Lagos State Branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called off its sit-at-home strike over the continued harassment of its members by officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Chairman, NMA Lagos State Branch, Dr. Oseni Saliu, in a statement yesterday, said the leadership of the association had followed the turn of events while monitoring the situation.

He stated that the association had further received assurances from the governor and top hierarchy of the police that no health worker would be harassed in the course of their lawful duties.