The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in Edo, has started testing for COVID-19, following the validation of its Testing Centre by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Mr Joshua Uwaila, Head, Public Relations Unit of UBTH, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin on Monday.
“The validation was announced by the NCDC on Sunday and echoed by the Edo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Patrick Okundia.
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“This achievement was made possible by the collaboration between UBTH and the Centre for Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation (CERHI), University of Benin.
“The collaboration, initiated by the UBTH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Darlington Obaseki, provided access to the use of the centre’s Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine for COVID-19 testing.
“With this new development, testing for COVID-19 for UBTH patients has become more efficient as travelling cost and time in handling test specimens have now been eliminated.
“This achievement adds traction to the fight against COVID-19 in Edo,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Gov. Godwin Obaseki paid a visit to the UBTH Isolation Centre on Sunday, where he was taken on a guided tour of the UBTH testing centre, among other facilities.
The governor on that visit said he was impressed with the management of the hospital, especially the collaboration with the state government in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.