Benue: 5 Doctors Contract COVID-19, 56 Health Workers Quarantined

The Benue State Government has announced that five doctors and three support staff in the state have contracted Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The government also announced on Wednesday that 56 health workers who had contact with infected persons had been quarantined. 

Benue Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, who is the chairman of the state’s action committee on COVID-19, announced the development during a press briefing on Wednesday. 

Abounu said Benue had confirmed a total of 47 COVID-19 cases and 16 recoveries as of June 24.

The state  had so far recorded one fatality while 30 persons were still being treated for COVID-19 at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) and the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, he said. 

The deputy governor further said that efforts were ongoing to establish a testing centre in the state. 

According to Abounu, the Northern Governors’ Forum has reached an agreement with a firm in Netherlands to provide 25 mobile testing centres in the region, with the support of a commercial bank at the cost of $384,000 per unit.

“Benue will get one of the units and we will pay N8 million monthly for 24 months to offset the cost. The mobile testing centre will help us address the problem of lack of testing centres in the state,” the Deputy Governor said.