The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital says Cross Rivers State is not free of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as being widely claimed by the State Government.
The teaching hospital revealed this through a circular on Thursday signed by Ikpeme Ikpeme, its Chief Medical Director.
“With recent developments, it does appear that the state may not be free of COVID-19 as generally believed,” Ikpeme noted.
He said a recent test carried out on a patient came out positive.
According to him, the patient has been treated and discharged from the hospital.
He however, noted that henceforth, the hospital would be working directly with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) rather than sending samples through the Cross Rivers State Government.
He noted that the NCDC has approved the hospital as an independent testing centre.
“The UCTH has been in direct contact with the Director General of NCDC and NCDC has approved the hospital as an independent test centre,” the Chief Medical Director stated.
He urged the staff of the hospital to adhere to preventive measures to ensure that the virus does not spread among staff of the hospital and the general public.
On Monday, Betta Edu, Cross Rivers Commissioner for Health had insisted that the state is free of COVID-19.
The NCDC is also yet to set up a divisional centre in the state for the test of Coronavirus.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94