On Thursday the Bayelsa State government has reacted to the complaints of delay in confirming COVID-19 results in the state.
Earlier today some patients and medical practitioners had lamented about the delay experienced in confirmation of coronavirus results after observation of isolation to determine results.
However, Dr Nathaniel Apoku, Co-Chairman of Bayelsa’s COVID-19 Task Force, while reacting, said the delays were due to scarcity of reagents at the NCDC laboratories in Edo and Port Harcourt.
Dr Nathaniel Apoku said that the state, in the last two weeks, had over 300 pending samples of suspected COVID-19 cases at the laboratories.
Dr Nathaniel Apoku mentioned that the laboratories were having issues with reagents and supplies, hence the delay in returning the results.
“On Wednesday, we received results from 76 samples; 54 returned positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 86 in the state. We are expecting more test results from today as well.
“Eleven of these positive cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases; eight are healthcare professionals,” Apoku added.
Dr Nathaniel Apoku, however, debunked speculations that the delay of COVID-19 results was caused by the task force and said that the COVID-19 team chaired by Gov. Douye Diri was putting in all efforts to have a world-class molecular laboratory to carry out the tests in the state.
