Covid-19: Gombe expects testing machine Wednesday… Explains challenge in evacuating 20 confirmed cases

William Attah, Gombe

The Gombe State Taskforce on Covid-19 says it hopes to start testing suspected cases of corona virus in the State as from Wednesday 27th May, 2020.

The State’s Taskforce Chairman on Covid-19, Professor Idris Mohammed, told newsmen during the committee’s daily briefing, Monday afternoon, that the transporters of the machine (DHL) had assured him that the machine would be in Bauchi for collection by 3pm on Tuesday 26th May, 2020.

He said, officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are also expected to inspect, install and commission the machine which was paid for, almost two months ago, for use as from Wednesday 27th May, 2020.

For almost two months, the machine was paid for by the Gombe State Government to facilitate quick and easy detection of suspected cases of covid-19 in Gombe State which is located in the centre of the Northeast and also a gateway to most of the five other States in the sub-region.

The Taskforce Chairman also explained to Journalists the challenges the committee had been facing in evacuating 20 persons from different parts of the State to its isolation centres in Gombe, the State capital.

According to him, evacuating them would help in curtailing community spread of the virus which the state had not experienced at the moment.

“So far, we have not had any confirmed case of a person who got infected with the virus with a travel history or within the community. All confirmed cases either traveled into the State with it or were on transit”, he explained.

Dr. Nuhu Bile, the State’s epidemiologist, explained that the committee has engaged traditional, community and religious leaders to prevail on these persons with confirmed cases on the need to be isolated.

He said, the committee was, so far, making progress as the confirmed persons are all on strict self isolation so as to prevent community spread.