Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 Monday said 34 states across the country had received N1billion each from federal government to support the fight against coronavirus pandemic, explaining that the federal government has laid out procedures on how such funds should be spent.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairman of the Presidential Task Force, Mr Boss Mustapha, who gave the information on Monday at the Presidential Task Force briefing also said federal government had earlier supported Lagos states and Kano States with N10 billion and N5 billion respectively.

PTF expressed concerns over reluctance of Nigerians to embrace testing, saying that there are 69 accredited NCDC laboratories where people could walk into and get tested free across the country.

It raised further concern that non-conformity to non-pharmaceutical interventions as prescribed by NCDC and World Health Organisation could see Nigeria returning back to the the earlier stage of the virus in the country.

“The numbers are going down, but the virus is not going away. We must test more. We’re not convinced we are flattening the curve. People need to test more.

National Cordinator of the Presidential Task Force, Mr Sani Aliyu, who gave this information on Monday urged Nigerians to go for test in accredited laboratories across the country, whith an emphasis that test is free.

“Covid tests in Nigeria are free, unless you’re testing for the purpose for travelling. No public laboratories will charge for covid test at the moment.”

Business Day