The House of Representatives have summoned the Presidential Task
Force (PTF), on COVID-19 to appear and brief it on May 5 on the
federal government’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its
template for the intervention in all the states of the
federation.
Also to appear before the House were Director-General, National
Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Minister of Health.
This was sequel to the unanimous adoption of a motion of Matter
of Urgent Public Importance by Rep. Ado Doguwa (APC-Kano) at the
plenary on Tuesday.
Moving the motion earlier, Doguwa recalled that index COVID-19
case was reported on Feb. 27, 2020 in Nigeria and that the country
had so far recorded 1,337 confirmed cases of the virus, 40 deaths
and 255 recoveries.
Doguwa said that the Federal Government had released N5 billion
to NCDC to scale up capacity and strategise rapid response to the
pandemic.
The Lawmaker expressed worry over the rising spate of
unexplained deaths in Kano State in recent weeks, where 77 COVID-19
confirmed cases had been recorded.
According to him, Kano State being the most populated state of
the federation, according to the National Population Commission has
only one testing centre.
The lawmaker said that the centre had been shut down for about a
week now, reportedly due to lack of some testing materials and
reagents.
He expressed concern that Nigeria had so far tested 10,918 of
its estimated 200 million population whereas Ghana, South Africa
and Egypt with much lower population had tested 168,643, 100,622,
and 90,000 of their people respectively.
Doguwa said that Nigeria currently has a capacity for 3,000
tests in a day whereas South Africa has nearly 10,000 tests
capacity per day.
He said that Nigeria has only 15 testing centers one each in
Kano, Sokoto, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Osun, Edo, and Ebonyi
State, two in the FCT and three in Lagos state.
“Conscious of the fact that whereas sample collection and
transportation remain in a critical challenge in Nigeria’s fight
against COVID-19.
“According to NCDC, Ghana has since engaged the services of
drone technology in the delivery of samples to help save lives more
quickly and drones also have the capacity to deliver test kits and
personal protection equipment.
“Convinced of the urgent need to arrest the rising cases of
unexplained deaths in Kano state and also scale up national
response to the Coronavirus pandemic, including the establishment
of at least one testing centre in every state of the Federation to
save the nation from the grave scenario being witnessed in Kano
State.
“Summon the DG NCDC, Honourable Minister of Health, and the
Chairman of the Presidential Task force to appear before the House
at plenary on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 to brief it on government’s
response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its template for the
intervention in all the states of the Federation,’’ he said.
The House urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency
and priority scale up the nation’s COVID-19 testing capacity.
The lawmakers urged the NCDC to adopt creatively proactive
modern approaches and technologies in the management of COVID-19
pandemic
The green chamber called for the establishment of a testing
centre in each Local Government Area of the Federation.
The lower chamber also recommended the inclusion of religious
and traditional leaders in creating awareness in local
communities.
In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbejabiamila
approved an investigation into the immediate and remote causes of
the unexplained huge number of deaths in Kano State. (NAN)
The House of Representatives have summoned the Presidential Task
Force (PTF), on COVID-19 to appear and brief it on May 5 on the
federal government’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its
template for the intervention in all the states of the
federation.
Also to appear before the House were Director-General, National
Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Minister of Health.
This was sequel to the unanimous adoption of a motion of Matter
of Urgent Public Importance by Rep. Ado Doguwa (APC-Kano) at the
plenary on Tuesday.
Moving the motion earlier, Doguwa recalled that index COVID-19
case was reported on Feb. 27, 2020 in Nigeria and that the country
had so far recorded 1,337 confirmed cases of the virus, 40 deaths
and 255 recoveries.
Doguwa said that the Federal Government had released N5 billion
to NCDC to scale up capacity and strategise rapid response to the
pandemic.
The Lawmaker expressed worry over the rising spate of
unexplained deaths in Kano State in recent weeks, where 77 COVID-19
confirmed cases had been recorded.
According to him, Kano State being the most populated state of
the federation, according to the National Population Commission has
only one testing centre.
The lawmaker said that the centre had been shut down for about a
week now, reportedly due to lack of some testing materials and
reagents.
He expressed concern that Nigeria had so far tested 10,918 of
its estimated 200 million population whereas Ghana, South Africa
and Egypt with much lower population had tested 168,643, 100,622,
and 90,000 of their people respectively.
Doguwa said that Nigeria currently has a capacity for 3,000
tests in a day whereas South Africa has nearly 10,000 tests
capacity per day.
He said that Nigeria has only 15 testing centers one each in
Kano, Sokoto, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Osun, Edo, and Ebonyi
State, two in the FCT and three in Lagos state.
“Conscious of the fact that whereas sample collection and
transportation remain in a critical challenge in Nigeria’s fight
against COVID-19.
“According to NCDC, Ghana has since engaged the services of
drone technology in the delivery of samples to help save lives more
quickly and drones also have the capacity to deliver test kits and
personal protection equipment.
“Convinced of the urgent need to arrest the rising cases of
unexplained deaths in Kano state and also scale up national
response to the Coronavirus pandemic, including the establishment
of at least one testing centre in every state of the Federation to
save the nation from the grave scenario being witnessed in Kano
State.
“Summon the DG NCDC, Honourable Minister of Health, and the
Chairman of the Presidential Task force to appear before the House
at plenary on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 to brief it on government’s
response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its template for the
intervention in all the states of the Federation,’’ he said.
The House urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency
and priority scale up the nation’s COVID-19 testing capacity.
The lawmakers urged the NCDC to adopt creatively proactive
modern approaches and technologies in the management of COVID-19
pandemic
The green chamber called for the establishment of a testing
centre in each Local Government Area of the Federation.
The lower chamber also recommended the inclusion of religious
and traditional leaders in creating awareness in local
communities.
In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbejabiamila
approved an investigation into the immediate and remote causes of
the unexplained huge number of deaths in Kano State. (NAN)