Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed, had on Monday gone on an inspection at the new N100 million Bauchi Molecular Laboratory for COVID 19 and other diseases, which was established by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TetFUND) at the College of Medical Science of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.
During the visit, Mohammed warned residents of Bauchi state to adhere strictly to protocols of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC for Coronavirus, saying that the pandemic is not yet over.
The Governor expressed worry that Bauchi local government was listed by the presidential Taskforce on COVID 19 as one of the local government in the state most prone to COVID 19, adding that he does not want another lockdown for Bauchi State as it inflicts hardship on the citizens.
“We should be careful to observe the protocols of NCDC for COVID 19 such as social distance, wearing of face masks and all those issues that have to do with our social life like transportation, going to the market and conducting ourselves during funerals. We are not observing these protocols, we have relaxed.
“We really have to go by the rules. We don’t want to carry the sledgehammer and kill the fly. We don’t want to come and apply the rules that is hostile that will be unpleasant, but certainly when it must be done, even as you can see that the federal government is muting the idea of locking down Bauchi town and I don’t want such a situation because it causes a lot of problem and challenges,” he warned.
In his response, the Vice-Chancellor of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Professor Abdulaziz Mohammed, disclosed that the laboratory was established not only for the testing of COVID 19 and other related diseases such as yellow fever, Lassa fever and testing for HIV, but for research purposes.
