3 WASSCE candidates still getting COVID-19 treatment in Gombe

The Gombe State government says three final year secondary school students who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state are still under medical care.

At least 44 students in four states have tested positive for the novel disease since the commencement of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on August 17, 2020.

The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, announced during a media briefing on Monday, August 31 that all the students had recovered and been discharged.

"We've confirmed that all of them are back in class. They have now been tested negative.

"We do not have any further cases," the minister said.

However, Gombe State Epidemiologist, Dr Bile Nuhu, said on Tuesday, September 1 that three of the 22 students who tested positive in the state were still receiving treatment.

To effectively combat the spread of the highly infectious disease, Nuhu said the state has established school isolation spaces across 16 out of a total of 20 boarding schools.

"We used the checklist that looks at the structures on the ground and the components in the structures that are ideal that can serve as isolation spaces for just mild cases not severe cases.

"Severe cases have to go to isolation centres," he said.

20 other candidates have tested positive in Bayelsa, and one each in Kwara and Akwa Ibom.

Nigerian schools were shut down in March in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Before it was allowed to commence on August 17, the WASSCE was postponed twice due to concerns over the safety of students especially with the still active status of the disease.

There is no confirmed date yet from the Federal Government for when schools will be allowed to fully reopen, but some state governments have recently announced September resumption dates for state-owned institutions.

Nigeria has recorded over 54,000 COVID-19 cases and over 1,000 fatalities since February.