Cross River Remains COVID-19 Free As NCDC Announces 454 New Cases

By Jonathan Ugbal

Contrary to the expectations of many Cross Riverians, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) did not authenticate the results as contained in the Health Advisory of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) dated July 3, 2020.

In the early hours of July 4, 2020, the NCDC announced 454 new cases as follows:

Lagos-87
Edo-63
FCT-60
Ondo-41
Benue-32
Abia-31
Ogun-29
Oyo-19
Kaduna-17
Delta-16
Enugu-15
Borno-14
Plateau-9
Nasarawa-8
Kano-5
Bauchi-4
Gombe-2
Katsina-1
Kogi-1

27,564 confirmed
11,069 discharged
628 deaths

A breakdown of cases by state can be found via https://t.co/zQrpNeOfet#TakeResponsibility pic.twitter.com/J85c1pVC0h

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) July 3, 2020

The Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Professor Ikpeme Ikpeme had disclosed in the advisory that five samples sent to the NCDC testing facility in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state returned positive.

The UCTH advisory said the samples were tested using the “PCR Technique.” It said the state government has since been notified.

Also, a study conducted by independent researchers who used antibodies test kits showed a prevalence rate of 26 percent out of a random population of 66 people.

The UCTH was authorized by the NCDC to send samples directly to it for testing, bypassing the state which has continuously denied allegations that it is deliberately not testing to preserve the COVID-19 free status.