Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu on Monday in Abuja, during a Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 assured that the testing centre in Kano State will resume activities on the 27th of April.

The NCDC boss explained that the contamination and infection of some health workers was the reason for shutting down the centre temporarily.

His  statement read-“We have been working hard to ensure that the lab re-open but we have to do this safely. In the last 72hours we have sent another team from the national reference lab of the NCDC and they have worked day and night to reactivate that lab.

“I am happy to announce that the lab will start working this afternoon. It will start testing samples again.

“This has not been an easy effort. It has taken the collective effort of my team, the lab scientists in Kano, colleagues we have employed in an adhoc way and many people that have quietly worked on this to make it happen. We will not stop till the lab is fully functional again,”.

While assuring the effort of the agency to investigating the cause of increased deaths reported in the state, Dr. Chikwe said the result of previous investigation carried out will be available in few days.

“We are also working very hard to investigate the causes of the deaths that have been reported. Mortality surveillance is not easy. So, we are working to do what we call a verbal autopsy retrospectively and prospectively together with the public health team in Kano”.