TheCable

The Oyo state government on Tuesday launched a drive-through/walk-through testing centre for COVID-19.

The development comes two weeks after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched a similar initiative.

The centre is located at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan, the state capital.

Speaking during the flag-off, Seyi Makinde, the governor, said the initiative is to conduct a mass test for 10,000 residents, with 2,000 tests per day.

According to him, the Citizen for Citizen initiative led by Ibukun Awosika, chairman of First Bank, donated the test kits used on Tuesday while the tests were carried out in collaboration with LifeBank Nigeria.

“As I have said in the past, we are walking in uncharted territory, and no one can claim to know it all when it comes to the best way to handle this pandemic. We can only listen to the experts and apply common sense. Especially in Africa, and indeed Nigeria, the challenges we face are multi-pronged. Aside from not having health infrastructure that can handle a full-scale pandemic, we also have a largely informal economy,” Makinde said.

“Caught between a rock and a hard place, we must find and apply solutions that are a product of scientific and logical thought. These solutions must also take our local circumstances into cognizance.

“Experts have opined that the best place to start in solving our peculiar problems is by ramping up our testing capabilities. This is why a few weeks ago, the Oyo State Government, in collaboration with the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, specifically, the Virology Laboratory, set up a diagnostic centre to test for COVID-19 right here in Ibadan.

“Indeed, with social distancing through lockdowns proving to be the most effective way of checking community spread, and the fact that people can have COVlD-19 and be asymptomatic, large-scale testing will help us determine where and when targeted lockdowns are necessary.

“In recent times, the Oyo State Government has come under intense criticism for not implementing a total lockdown in the state, and for not forcing people to shut down their businesses. We have seen the result of more extensive lockdowns in neighbouring states. Yet, we are not celebrating a win, because this is not a competition.

“Today, we are implementing one of the actions that is fundamental in deciding what our next steps will be. In the next few days after we increase testing, we will see for ourselves whether a complete lockdown is necessary. We plan to test 10,000 people in the shortest possible time. We are starting with the first 2,000 from today. I have been told we can complete this round in two weeks.

“Let me use this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Citizen for Citizen Initiative led by Mrs lbukun Awosika, which donated the 2,000 test kits we will use for the tests. We also thank LifeBank Nigeria which is collaborating with us to conduct the tests.”

Makinde, who recovered from the disease six days after testing positive, said not everyone may be lucky like him.

He urged the public to maintain social distancing while asking residents to maintain high standards of hygiene.

“There may seem to be reasons to disbelieve that Coronavirus is real. Some people have said that the government isjust using it to steal money,” he said.

“Some people have even used me as an example, saying “our governor had it but was not sick.” But let me say this, Coronavirus is real. I may have been lucky not to have shown any symptoms, my immune system may have fought it, but the next person may not be as lucky.

“We do not know who that next person may be. Luck is not a strategy for beating COVlD-19. We have to follow logic and science. This is why we must maintain social distancing.”