Abayomi: Lagos has spent at least N640m on COVID-19 tests

Akin Abayomi, commissioner for health in Lagos, says the state has spent N640 million on COVID-19 tests.

He disclosed this  on Thursday, while giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in Lagos.

According to the commissioner, the state spends between N40,000 and N50,000 per test, and has tested 16,000 people so far.

TheCable multiplied N40,000 by 16,000 and arrived at N640,000,000. The actual money spent on the test could be higher since the commissioner did not give a breakdown of the figures.

“Regarding the testing, we so far have performed 16,000 tests in Lagos, which is much higher than anywhere else in Nigeria, and we’re planning to continue to test up to about a thousand tests a day,” he said.

“So, in the next month or two, we’re going to be ramping up our capacity to test. How much does it cost to test? Well, for now, the government is providing testing free of charge and the government pays about N40,000 to N50,000 per test.

“But to ramp up our testing, we’re going to try and use some means of subsidising those tests, either through insurance or through some contributions from donors or from developmental partners to help us to subsidise the tests.

“For now, the state government is providing COVID-19 testing free of charge and all citizens who need to be tested for COVID-19 because they are not feeling well, or they’ve had a close contact, can get that test free of charge at any of our COVID-19 testing sites in the four laboratories.”