16th April, 2020
The Ebonyi Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike, on Thursday said that all the 74 suspected cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) from the state tested negative.
Umezurike stated this while briefing newsmen on the state government’s response to the pandemic, stating that there was no reported case of the disease yet in the state.
The commissioner however, said that the state had tested over 50 samples from other states but did not report their results.
“A total of 119 suspected cases have been admitted at various times and all tested negative to COVID-19, but were treated for other ailments and discharged.
“We have selected six general hospitals to serve as observation centres, two in each senatorial zone of the state in our response protocol,” he said.
He disclosed that the state was the fourth after Lagos, Abuja and Edo to be activated to effectively confirm COVID-19 cases.
“This was made possible because the state governor constructed and equipped an ultra modern virology centre in 2016.
“The equipment and other facilities at the centre were like a springboard for laboratory to be upgraded to confirm diagnosis of the virus.
“This is because we already have Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines and other equipment as we are supported by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which provided test kits,” he said.