COVID-19: Kaduna Provides 5 Testing Laboratories in Public Health Facilities

The Kaduna State Government on Sunday said it has provided five new testing laboratories in public health facilities to help prevent, detect and manage diseases, including COVID-19.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Baloni, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.

She said the facilities were provided to strengthen the capacities of its health system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While marking one year of the COVID-19 index case in the state, the commissioner said the state had also run a major public health campaign to encourage safe and preventive behaviour to combat the pandemic.

”As at March 20, 8,902 residents of Kaduna State have been infected with COVID-19, with 8,762 successfully treated and discharged while 62 patients are still on admission.

”Sadly, we have lost 65 persons to the virus.

”Kaduna state has invested in its entire health infrastructure; treatment and isolation centres have increased from one to six across the state,” she said.

Mohammed-Baloni, while giving a breakdown of the isolation centres, said Kaduna and  Zaria towns had two centres each, while Kafanchan and Birnin Gwari towns  had a centre each.

According to her, the newly built 136-bed treatment facility in Mando is the centrepiece of its enhanced resilience to contain the spread of the disease and manage patients.

The commissioner said that the state received about 180,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and launched its vaccination campaign on March 10, starting with strategic leaders and frontline health workers.

She added that the state had vaccinated 65,983 persons, as at March 27. 2021.

”Vaccines hold the real promise of protecting people from the virus, but the arrival of vaccines does not mean the departure of COVID-19.

”People must continue to observe preventive measures like mask-wearing and physical distancing until enough persons within the population have been vaccinated to trigger herd immunity.

“We pay tribute to the sacrifices health workers and citizens have made through the months of fighting this disease,” the commissioner said.

“Let us make permanent features of our lives, the lessons we have learnt about personal hygiene throughout this emergency, because prevention is the best cure for all diseases, she added.