The Kaduna State Government is deploying improved testing capacity as part of its strategy for the safe reopening of the state. This is in addition to other public health measures.
According to Special Adviser to the Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Media and Communications, Muyiwa Adekeye, the Governor stated this while formally receiving Wellness-on-Wheels, a mobile testing vehicle deployed by USAID to support the state’s COVID-19 containment efforts.
Adekeye said the Governor disclosed that the mobile testing vehicle was already helping to improve the state’s capacity for testing in communities.
He said the governor expressed gratitude to USAID and KNCV for availing the state government use of the vehicle at this critical time.
The Governor also disclosed that Kaduna State had already imported 9,800 COVID-19 test kits for the GeneXpert machine, the type installed in the mobile testing vehicle.
He explained that the state was seeking to acquire 40,000 more test kits to meet is target of 50,000 tests.
The governor added that KDSG already had eight GeneXpert machines in its facilities, adding that the state was making efforts to further expand testing capacity by providing one GeneXpert machine in every Local Government Area with complementary equipment such as Level 2 biosafety cabinet, sample refrigerators and reagent refrigerators.
The Governor also stated that the expanded testing capacity was complementing the efforts of the Kaduna State Government to safely reopen the state.
He noted that more businesses were opening in compliance with safety protocols while people in the informal sector were continuing their pursuit of livelihoods.
He said this significant easing of the lockdown had made less pressing the need for palliatives for citizens that the lockdown had rendered unable to pursue livelihoods.
He said with this development, the state government had decided that it did not require further donations by public servants, effective June 2020.
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