COVID-19: PTF DECRIES LOW TESTING IN 32 STATES, DISBURSES 1Bn
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, on Monday, September 21, 2020, said it has disbursed N1Bn each to 32 States in the country.
The PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, made this known during a COVID-19 briefing in Abuja.
Dr Aliyu said the purpose of the disbursement is to drive COVID-19 responses and to prioritize testing in each of those States.
“We have released money to the state governments recently, to 32 state governments. Each state government was given a billion naira.
“This is for the purpose of driving their COVID responses and we are asking them to prioritize testing in addition to surveillance activities linked to COVID-19,” he said.
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Speaking further, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the Federal Government has observed a decline in COVID-19 infections in the country.
He warned Nigerians not to celebrate yet because testing in many States is still very low.
He said; “The number of reported cases daily has declined nationally in the last few weeks. We have seen a 36 per cent decline in August compared to July on national figures.
“Unfortunately, we cannot celebrate this until we test sufficient figures in every state.”
In addition, PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said the COVID-19 pandemic has crumbled the country’s economy.
The SGF stated that the President Muhammad Buhari administration is implementing reforms that will help the nation’s economy recover from the effect of the pandemic.
“The call for greater vigilance is underscored by the fact that our economy has been seriously affected by the pandemic and we are pushing through with home-grown economic recovery strategies to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic,” he said.
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