The Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, says there are no cases of coronavirus inside the reopened NYSC camps. He added that people going back to camp were screened and those who tested positive have been isolated away from camp.
The NCDC DG disclosed this in an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday.
“NO #COVID19 cases inside NYSC camps. Cases recorded were due to effective measures to screen corpers before entry into orientation camps. We‘ve prepared with @officialnyscng for months to ensure safe reopening of orientation camps”
Watch 📺https://t.co/W1h4B4fgIE pic.twitter.com/xhie02Ikla
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) November 17, 2020
“I saw a bit of reporting around cases in NYSC, it’s important to clarify this, there have been no cases inside NYSC camps,” Dr. Ihekweazu said.
He added that the NCDC worked with the NYSC on COVID-19 measures and that everyone entering the camp has been tested. He disclosed that the testing has picked a few positive cases that have been identified and placed in isolation.
“To reopen camps, we started working with the NYSC. We prepared for months for this and we are screening every single young person coming back to youth service camps. For this first stream, there are over 45,000 – both Corpers and NYSC staff.
“So, before you get into camp, you are screened; through that screening process, we have picked a few cases across the country of people coming back to camp, not knowing that they are ill, infected themselves. They have been tested, identified, and then excluded from the camp, appropriately isolated, and then managed.
“So, this is really what happened, the report that went out yesterday, there are some miscommunication in how it was reported.
“But, there are no cases in the camps, the cases we have detected are because of measures that we took, before hand to prevent people with infections from getting into the camps,” Ihekweazu said.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported earlier that 2 National Youth Service Corps members out of the 826 new members posted to Kano state orientation centres tested positive for COVID-19.
NYSC state coordinator in Kano, Hajiya Aisha Tata, affirmed that the 826 corps members posted to the state were tested immediately upon arrival at the orientation camp and that the two confirmed cases were taken to relevant facilities for further medical investigation.
