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  • 2020-07-07 (xsd:date)
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  • Yes, private Covid-19 tests now allowed in Lagos, Nigeria – at a price (en)
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  • People living in Lagos , a Nigerian state that includes its major city, can buy a Covid-19 test at a private laboratory for N50,400 – about US$130 . That’s according to several news reports posted on Facebook . Lagos state governor through his commissioner for health has announced that Lagos residents who are unable to get themselves tested in government’s own facilities would henceforth pay N50,400 in a private laboratory to conduct Covid-19 test, reads a 30 June 2020 article on the site Within Nigeria . As of 7 July, Nigeria had nearly 30,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 , with 654 deaths. But so far, the country has only tested 152,000 of its estimated population of 200 million people . Facebook’s fact-checking system has flagged the reports as possibly false. Can people unable to access Lagos state’s free service now pay N50,400 for a private test ? Making tests ‘widely available’ Lagos state currently has Nigeria’s highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases. The state’s government recently partnered with private laboratories to ramp up testing. Prof Akin Abayomi , Lagos state commissioner for health, said at a 30 June press briefing that this was to ensure more Lagosians were tested . But the tests had to be paid for . We recognise the need to expand our testing capacity, especially to the local government areas that are most affected by the community transmission of the virus, he said . Both efforts make it imperative that Covid-19 tests are widely available to members of the public. Dr Anthony Ofili, operations manager at Medbury Medical Services , one of the private laboratories approved to conduct the tests, told Africa Check each test would cost N50,400. – Motunrayo Joel (en)
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