Bauchi State spends over N15 million weekly to fight COVID-19

Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed has said that his administration spends more than N15 million weekly to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Mohammed made this known yesterday while commissioning the state’s molecular test centre at the Bauchi State Specialist Hospital.

According to him, the money is used for healthcare workers’ allowance, contact tracing, surveillance, case management, risk communication, logistics and supply, infection prevention and coordination. He said the laboratory was set up under a partnership with the state government, North East Development Commission (NEDC) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“The state provided funding for the construction of the building, procurement of furniture, power supply and staff, while NEDC procured and installed PCL and other machines in addition to two ambulances, personal protective equipment (PPE), consumables and other support implement,” he added.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aliyu Maigoro, said since March this year, the state had tested 3,459 samples with 500 turning positive and 439 fully recovered and discharged, while 49 cases were undergoing treatment.

“The state recorded a total of 12 deaths (mostly among patients with comorbidity) with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 2.4 per cent currently and with increasing community transmission, we are going into community mass testing and contact,” he added.