The Lagos State Government says the current lab testing capacity
for the state is 850 persons per day.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Saturday during
the state’s COVID-19 briefing.
According to the governor, this testing capacity can, however,
be expanded to about 1,500 to 2,000 daily with the availability of
adequate extraction kits.
“Our combined lab capacity is at about 850 tests daily.
“This is easily scalable to 1,500 and 2,000 subject to the
availability of extraction kits considering the acute global
shortage,” he said.
To achieve this, the governor said the state has paid for over
20,000 extraction kits and has placed an order for another 20,000
in its bid to test at least 120,000 in the next 60 days.
He also noted that the state has commenced a biweekly
procurement of laboratory needs “to prevent running out of these
materials going forward, until at least 120,000 tests are done in a
about 2 months”.
On Friday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Boss Mustapha, had stated that isolation and treatment centres in
the country are running out of bed spaces, even as the country
records a total of 3,913 cases.
Lagos has remained the epicentre of the virus in the country
with a total of 1,667 cases. While the state has also recorded an
encouraging number of recoveries (of over 400 persons), there are
still concerns about the increasing number of community
transmissions.
But the governor, during Saturday’s briefing, assured Lagosians
that in addition to the increased testing capacity, “we are also
actively increasing our isolation capacity”.
“You will also see a change in our Isolation strategy in the
weeks ahead, as we transition towards decentralisation,” he
added.
“What this means is that we will be introducing community
management of cases, by accrediting and incorporating primary
health care facilities and private healthcare facilities for the
management of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 patients”.
The governor also spoke about the collection of accurate data
and beyond that, he announced that the state is developing an
emergency digital response platform that will help in the
collection of data, necessary for informed decisionmaking.
Take Responsibility
Speaking further, he recalled the fact that the Commissioner for
Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, had on Friday, disclosed that some data
estimates had shown that by July, Lagos may record as many as
120,000 cases of the COVID-19.
“That is a projection – it does not necessarily have to be our
reality”, he said.
To prevent this from becoming the reality, the governor urged
Lagosians to take collective responsibility by adhering to the
government’s guidelines even as the lockdown is being eased
gradually.
“The only way to ensure that projections do not become reality
is taking the projections as a warning, and using them to influence
and modify our behaviour towards greater compliance and
discipline”.
The Lagos State Government says the current lab testing capacity
for the state is 850 persons per day.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Saturday during
the state’s COVID-19 briefing.
According to the governor, this testing capacity can, however,
be expanded to about 1,500 to 2,000 daily with the availability of
adequate extraction kits.
“Our combined lab capacity is at about 850 tests daily.
“This is easily scalable to 1,500 and 2,000 subject to the
availability of extraction kits considering the acute global
shortage,” he said.
To achieve this, the governor said the state has paid for over
20,000 extraction kits and has placed an order for another 20,000
in its bid to test at least 120,000 in the next 60 days.
He also noted that the state has commenced a biweekly
procurement of laboratory needs “to prevent running out of these
materials going forward, until at least 120,000 tests are done in a
about 2 months”.
On Friday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,
Boss Mustapha, had stated that isolation and treatment centres in
the country are running out of bed spaces, even as the country
records a total of 3,913 cases.
Lagos has remained the epicentre of the virus in the country
with a total of 1,667 cases. While the state has also recorded an
encouraging number of recoveries (of over 400 persons), there are
still concerns about the increasing number of community
transmissions.
But the governor, during Saturday’s briefing, assured Lagosians
that in addition to the increased testing capacity, “we are also
actively increasing our isolation capacity”.
“You will also see a change in our Isolation strategy in the
weeks ahead, as we transition towards decentralisation,” he
added.
“What this means is that we will be introducing community
management of cases, by accrediting and incorporating primary
health care facilities and private healthcare facilities for the
management of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 patients”.
The governor also spoke about the collection of accurate data
and beyond that, he announced that the state is developing an
emergency digital response platform that will help in the
collection of data, necessary for informed decisionmaking.
Take Responsibility
Speaking further, he recalled the fact that the Commissioner for
Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, had on Friday, disclosed that some data
estimates had shown that by July, Lagos may record as many as
120,000 cases of the COVID-19.
“That is a projection – it does not necessarily have to be our
reality”, he said.
To prevent this from becoming the reality, the governor urged
Lagosians to take collective responsibility by adhering to the
government’s guidelines even as the lockdown is being eased
gradually.
“The only way to ensure that projections do not become reality
is taking the projections as a warning, and using them to influence
and modify our behaviour towards greater compliance and
discipline”.