The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has declared that a statement credited to Ebonyi Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezurike, that some corps members in the Afikpo camp tested positive to Coronavirus is false.
NYSC’s State Coordinator, Mrs Mercy Bamai, said in the state capital, Abakaliki, that no corps member tested positive to the virus, according to agency report.
She explained that all corps members and staff of the NYSC were tested by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) prior to their entry to camp and only those certified free of the virus were allowed to be registered.
Bamai said, “All corps members reporting to the orientation camp are categorised as prospective corps members until they duly register and are certified fit to participate in the orientation programme.
“Corps members deployed to Ebonyi were tested for COVID-19 by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) outside the camp’s premises as the centre handles positive cases.
“We are not, therefore, aware if any prospective corps member tested positive because we duly received and registered only those the NCDC certified free of the virus,’’ she said.
She added, “This is the reason for conducting the test outside the gate because we are not trained to handle such cases.
“We ensure that corps members and camp officials observe all COVID-19 safety protocols of regular hand washing, steady use of nose masks and hand sanitisers, observance of social distancing among others.”