Lokoja — The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Kogi State chapter, has disclosed that testing for COVID-19 remained a challenge in the state.

The NMA chairman said the challenge of not testing enough persons had led to agitation from members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) as they are among the first to attend to suspected cases, a number which has been received at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Lokoja recently.

"Although no confirmed case has been reported in Kogi State till date, a number of suspected cases have been attended to at the FMC Lokoja, and members of ARD are among the first to attend to these patients, and as such, they might be exposed to the highly contagious COVID-19," Kabir stated

He said: "ARD is an affiliate of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), and members are among the most exposed health care workers to patients with suspected COVID-19 in the hospital settings.

Kabir said FMC Lokoja is the only functional tertiary health institution in Kogi State and as such, the institution attends to a wide range of patients, and the ever present danger of being exposed to patients with COVID-19 is major source of worry.

But in a chat with THISDAY, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna Audu, stated that contrary to the insinuation that the people are denied the opportunity to go for COVID-19 test in the state, the state government is committed to fighting coronavirus pandemic, as the state has not objected to testing at any point in time.