COVID-19: Stakeholders donate world-class molecular diagnostic laboratory to FCTA

In their efforts to boost the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and other related health challenges in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), some stakeholders under the aegis of the FCT Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19, on Monday, donated a world-class molecular diagnostic laboratory to the FCT Administration.

FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, while receiving the project at Kubwa General Hospital, Abuja, said it would boost testing for COVID-19 in the territory.

According to him: “The committee is today bequeathing to the FCT, its legacy project, which is the donation of this molecular diagnostic laboratory here at Kubwa General Hospital.

“It’s to their credit and great work done by our medical personnel and our entire COVID-19 response team that despite the status of the FCT as an epicentre of COVID-19 in Nigeria, we have recorded relatively low fatalities and met our testing targets.

“We intend to put this laboratory to good and effective use even long after this war against COVID-19 is won and forgotten, which we pray will not be very long from now.

“We must, however, not be complacent despite the low positives, we are currently witnessing as the virus is still very much around,” he noted.

While handing over the facility to the minister, the Chairman of the committee, Dr Aliyu Modibbo Umar, was optimistic that the laboratory would serve as a trigger for the building and equipping at least one laboratory each in the Area Councils of the FCT in the next five years.

“To this effect, we wish to suggest the consideration of the FCTA to explore public-private partnership arrangement; or to create a full-fledged FCT Directorate of Laboratory Services, which will report directly to the Permanent Secretary and will have its own line vote in the FCTA annually,” he added.

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The 624 new cases reported between March 28 and April 3 is a reduction from the 849 recorded the previous week…COVID-19: Stakeholders donate world-class molecular diagnostic laboratory to FCTA

COVID-19: Stakeholders donate world-class molecular diagnostic laboratory to FCTA