The NYSC said the claim by Cross River State health commissioner that 13 corps members tested positive to COVID-19 while in camp, in the state, was false.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Cross River State has said no corps member tested positive to COVID-19 in the state.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the NYSC was reacting to the claim by the Commissioner for Health in the state, Betta Edu, that 13 corps members tested positive while in the orientation camp in the state.
Cross River State on Sunday recorded 20 cases of COVID-19 infection, the highest so far in the state.
“We had people who came in for the NYSC, about 13 of them were positive cases. So, these are people who moved into our state from other states.
“The other ones are people who are residents in the state,” Mrs Edu told PREMIUM TIMES, Monday.
Mrs Edu, a medical doctor, heads the COVID-19 task force in the state.
The NYSC has, however, said the claim by the health commissioner was false.
“Management wishes to assert that at present, no registered 2020 Batch B Stream II corps member in Cross River is COVID-19 positive,” Enuma Peter, a spokesperson for the NYSC in the state, said Tuesday in a statement.
“It is worthy to note that all prospective corps members for the ongoing programme underwent COVID-19 test conducted by the National Centre for Disease Control, which is a condition for admission into any of the 37 camps in the country.
“Prospective corps members who test positive are duly referred to NCDC for treatment and management. This has been the practice and NYSC in Cross River has adhered strictly to this standard.”
The statement said the health commissioner did not request or receive “any brief from the NYSC on the ongoing test of corps members at the orientation camp in Obubra Local Government.
“At no time did any registered corps member tested positive as everyone was tested before admittance into the camp.
“As such, the Commissioner may not be aware that only prospective corps members that test negative to COVID-19 are allowed into the camp and qualified to be registered as corps members.” the NAN report highlighted.
There has been a surge in COVID-19 infections across Nigeria, leaving the federal and state governments scrambling on how to check the spread.
The total number of confirmed cases in the country was 112,996 as of January 25, according to data from the centre for disease control.
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