All 17 active cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) receiving treatment in Taraba have been discharged by the state government after they tested negative twice.
Governor Darius Ishaku confirmed this to reporters on Saturday when he inspected a 100-bed space capacity isolation centre at the NYSC orientation camp in Sibre in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
He added that the government was expecting the results of the second test of 87 Almajirai repatriated from Nasarawa State, and would discharge them if they test negative for the disease.
The governor, however, said he cannot give accurate statistics of infected persons in Taraba because of the unavailability of test kits for random sample testing.
He revealed that so far, the state government has purchased four ventilators and would take delivery of two more for the sake of any emergency.
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Governor Ishaku insisted that his administration was open to partnerships that would curb the further spread of COVID-19 in Taraba.
“If we have the testing equipment, then we will be in a position to say with certainty the percentage of infections the state has.
“By now, I should be in a position to say five per cent, 10 per cent of Taraba residents or less are infected, but by the time you don’t know the percentage we are just doing guesswork,” he said.
The governor added, “We have a 100-bed space capacity isolation centre now; we may need even more than that. We are targeting 200.”
He stated that the government would maintain the lockdown directive imposed on the state to curb the spread of COVID-19.
On his part, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Innocent Vakkai, gave an insight into the number of persons tested so far in the state.
He revealed that over 200 samples have been tested out of which 17 returned positive.
Vakkai, who is also the Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force Committee in Taraba, disclosed that all the positive cases were those who sneaked into the state through illegal routes.
He noted that the committee was working with law enforcement agencies to curtail the influx of people into Taraba and control the number of cases.
