Boss Mustapha

By Ngozi Onyeakusi— As many as 731 of the 34,418 Batch B members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 2020, tested positive for coronavirus, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, has said.

The country also continues to witness spike in the number of cases in the country, a situation attributable to recent festivities.

Mustapha, who spoke at the briefing of the task force on Tuesday, said corps members across the country took COVID-19 tests.

“In continuation of the NYSC engagement, the PTF has conducted the testing of batch B Corpers using RDTs. Out of the 35,419 in the Batch B, 731 tested positive compared to 108 recorded during the Batch A,” he said.

“It is on record that cases were recorded from Corps Members from every State of the Federation.”

Mustapha, who is the secretary to the government of the federation, also expressed concern about the 1,204 cases recorded on Monday, the highest number of daily infections in the country.

He attributed the surge to the Christmas festivities.

“Yesterday 4th January, 2021, we recorded 1,204 infections. This was the highest daily number ever recorded since we commenced the national response,” he said.

“From our analysis, we are beginning to see the effect of activities carried out during the Christmas festivities. We can only hope that numbers will not escalate beyond control. We however, still appeal to all citizens to take full responsibility through compliance and vigilance.”

So far, 958,991 COVID-19 tests have been carried out in the country, with 91,351 reportedly turning out positive and 1,318 recorded deaths.

The Federal Government has promised to procure enough vaccines for Nigerians.