By The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, Friday, said the Federal Government would dispatch its technical teams to validate the claims by Kogi and Cross River states that they did not have COVID-19 cases.
The Health Minister made this known during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.
“Kogi State is one of the two states that have said that they do not have COVID-19 patients. They seem to be sure of this. So, the agreement we have had with them after discussion with the governor is that we shall send a team in just to validate that fact and engage the authorities.
“Of course, we do that for national records and to be able to report to the world the situation in our country. We tried to send a team into Kogi on Thursday but there were some differences there. So, we need to engage the state governor again and state some conditions within which the ministry and NCDC can complete their jobs. We are going to send a team to Cross River next week also.” Dr Osagie said.
The federal government had sent a delegation to the state, Thursday, the delegates however returned to Abuja after the Kogi governor asked those in the delegation to go on isolation and be prepared for test.
In a statement, Kingsley Fanwo, commissioner for information, said the team chose to return to Abuja rather than be tested or self-isolated, asking if the agency was hiding anything from the people of Kogi.
“It was drama today at the Kogi State Government House as officials of the National Center for Disease Control sent to ascertain the COVID-19 status flee the state.
“The Officials said they were not ready to be tested for COVID-19 and went back to Abuja. Today, the Governor showed the statesmanship in him once again by appreciating the support of the NCDC and defending the health interests of his people.
“NCDC quarantined the Chinese professionals that came to give them technical support and also took their samples for test. It is a normal practice and protocol set by NCDC.
Kogi State still remains one of the few states that are yet to record any COVID-19 case.
