By James Azania, Lokoja
The Chairman of the Kogi State branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr Kabir Zubair has said testing for the Coronavirus disease remains a challenge in the state.
Zubair made this known on Thursday in a reaction to report by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), that only one sample has so far been sent in for test by Kogi. The test came negative.
He stated that the challenge had led to agitation from members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), being that they are in the first line to attend to suspected cases, a number of which cases have been received at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja, in recent times.
He said: “Although, no confirmed case has been reported in Kogi State, till date, but a number of suspected cases have been attended to at FMC Lokoja, and members of the ARD are among the first to attend to these patients, and as such, they might be exposed to the highly contagious virus.
“ARD is an affiliate of the Nigeria Medical Association, and they are among the most exposed healthcare workers to patients with suspected COVID-19 in the hospital settings.