Lagos State Government on Thursday, disclosed that it has spent about N800 million in conducting 16,000 COVID-19 tests in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Professor. Akin Abayomi stated this while briefing on COVID-19 weekly situation report, held at Press Centre, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja.
Abayomi, while responding to questions, said each COVID-19 test cost between N40,000 and N50,000 and 16,000 tests fully paid for by the state government have been conducted.
He mentioned that the state government is planning to test about 1,000 people per day in the next one or two months.
We are planning to test up to about 1,000 people per day very soon in the next month or two we are going to be ramping up our capacity to test. For now the government is providing testing free of charge and the government pays about N40,000 to N50,000 per test.
The commissioner stressed;
But as we ramp up our testing we are going to try and use some means of subsidy for the test, either through insurance or through some contributions from donors or from development partners to help us to subsidize the test.
According to him, the state government is providing COVID-19 testing free of charge for now, adding that;
All citizens who need to be tested for COVID-19 either because they are not feeling well or had a close contact can get it done free of charge at any of our COVID-19 testing sites on the four laboratories.
He stated that the state government was in the process of conducting clinical trial on hydroxychloroquine and “with the solidarity trial the state is participating in, two months from now we (Lagos) should get information on the drug either as prevention or cure.”
Abayomi added that government has listed some of the centres where the hydroxychloroquine trials would be conducted with consideration for various dietary supplements that can boost or improve the immune system to resist the virus.
The commissioner also stated that in order to ramp up testing, the state government has concluded plans to integrate the concept of home-based care of COVID 19, even as he urged residents to be available for test, and warned against stigmatisation of COVID-19 patients.
As part of preventive measures against the spread of the virus, the commissioner urged citizens to always use standard face masks in the public always, and should immediately present themselves for treatment in the event of exhibiting any COVID-19 related symptoms.
