The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, has said that COVID-19 tests for residents of the state are free of charge.
He said that the government has established sampling centres across the state and has continued to enhance the capacity of the public testing laboratories to examine all those who required testing free of charge.
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Omotoso stated:
The state would like to reassure the general public that testing is still free at all the COVID-19 public testing laboratories for all Lagos residents.Residents are enjoined to take advantage of this service if they feel unwell or feel they have had close contact with an infected person.
If any resident feels unwell, he should please, lodge a complaint through the appropriate channel by calling 08000CORONA.
According to him, a consortium of seven private laboratories has launched by the state government in the first phase.
The commissioner said:
This is part of the testing strategy of the state to increase the accessibility of testing facilities to the organised private and corporate sector who wish to test for various reasons.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is necessary to reiterate to members of the public that testing remains free of charge at all public testing laboratories.
Akin Abayomi, the Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, during the commissioning of facilities, stated:
We recognise the need to expand our testing, especially to the local government areas that are most affected by the community transmission of the virus and as Lagos State continuously manages the public crises caused by COVID-19, it simultaneously attempts to open up various aspects of its economy. Both efforts make it imperative that COVID19 tests are widely available to members of the public.
In a bid to ramp up our testing capacity, we have taken a strategic decision to include private laboratories in the testing of COVID19.
However, the State’s COVID19 response will remain a centrally managed emergency response by the State Government and the need to test will be surveillance driven and based on a clear case definition.
