The Gombe State Government said it has ordered the supply of Polymerase Chain Reaction Machine for the testing of Covid-19, which will be the first of its kind in the North East zone.

Professor Idris Mohammed, Chairman of the Taskforce Committee on Coronavirus disclosed this during a routine briefing on the activities of the committee in the state.

According to him, the entire six states of the northeast sub-region have no single machine to test any suspected case as such cases have to be taken to the nearest test centre in Abuja. “We have ordered the supply of the machines for testing  suspected cases of the virus for the state-owned centre, and the machines are expected to be available in the next two weeks,” he said.

He enjoined members of the public to adhere to professional advice on ways to prevent and control the pandemic and strictly observe the social distancing and frequent hand washing with soap or hand sanitiser.

“People should observe protective measures such as maintaining social distance and personal hygiene, which have been proven to be effective in the control of the dreaded virus.

“Such precautionary measures become necessary in order to halt the possible spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the state,” he said.

According to him, there is no confirmed case in the state so far, hence the need to take precautionary measures to avoid spread of the virus in the state.