Lagos State says the state currently has 21 private and 4 public health laboratories accredited for Covid-19 testing, while so far a total of 316,801 samples have been tested, with 47,871 diagnosed as Positive.

This was contained in a statement by the state government on Sunday in an update on the coronavirus.

Lagos continues to be the epicentre of the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. According to the statement, as of the 29th of January, 2021 Lagos State had recorded a total of 47,871 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

“34,094 have recovered in community, while 9,856 are currently active in community. Over the last 12 months, about 3,988 COVID-related patients have been admitted into the various care centres across the State; with a registered fatality rate of approximately 0.63% (301 deaths).

The test positivity ratio for January 2021 is 24%, which means that one out of every four tests returns positive. This is the highest monthly average recorded in the last six months.

It reiterated that testing is free at all Lagos State public health laboratories, for all persons who have symptoms such as fever, cough, cold, inability to smell or taste, headaches or general body weakness—or those who have come into close contact with anyone with any of these symptoms.

“Testing at our public health facilities cannot be used for travel purposes. Anyone wishing to test as a requirement for travel or other work-related requirements must do so at any of the 21 private laboratories accredited by Lagos State for COVID testing”.

HOME-BASED CARE

It noted that the State Government established a telemedicine service, EKOTELEMED, for patients who are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms that do not require admission, and can therefore be managed in the comfort of their homes.

EKOTELEMED is manned by well-trained medical personnel and is available on a toll-free line, 08000EKOMED (08000356633). The State Government would like to encourage people whose cases fall in the asymptomatic or mild category, to take advantage of this service.

So far about 5,000 patients have been reached through EKOTELEMED, and more than a thousand care packs delivered to patients in the Home-based care program.

OXYGEN

The Government wishes to reiterate that Oxygen is free at all Lagos State-owned Covid-19 Treatment Centers. The Lagos State Government does not charge for the use of Oxygen in its Centers.

Considering that oxygen demand has spiked to between 300 and 400 cylinders per day across state-owned treatment facilities, the Government is working hard to ensure that availability and supply are very easily able to meet and even surpass this demand.

To this end, a second oxygen plant is under construction at the Gbagada General Hospital and will come on-stream within the next seven days. It is expected that this will boost the in-house capacity and availability of oxygen across all State Government managed treatment centres.