States without COVID-19 laboratories have lamented that they encounter hurdles sending samples to Abuja or other neighbouring states, as well as long waiting time for results.
The state Task Force Response Committee on COVID-19 initially sent samples to the NCDC laboratory in Abuja, but recently started taking them to the National Research Institute, Vom in Jos, Plateau State.
In Yobe, the commissioner for health, who is also the vice chairman of the committee on COVID-19, said the state earlier transported its samples to NCDC accredited laboratories in Abuja for tests.
A member of the COVID-19 Management Committee in the state said there were plans by government to establish a testing laboratory in the state to bridge the gap between the time samples are taken and when the results come out.
States with testing centres and what they cost
In Sokoto, the chairman of the State Task Force on COVID-19 and commissioner for health, Dr Ali Inname, said there's one COVID-19 laboratory in the state at the Centre for Advanced Medical Research and Training (CAMRET), Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
