Not less than ten candidates sitting the ongoing West Africa Examination Council examination have tested positive for coronavirus in Gombe.
The first student, a male candidate at Government Science Secondary School Gombe, was sent to the Isolation Centre on Monday to write the exam.
Chairman of Gombe Task Force on COVID-19, Professor Idris Mohammed, disclosed this to reporters on Thursday August 20, 2020.
He said all the affected students were writing their examinations at the Isolation centre in the State Specialist Hospital.
He said nine girls from Government Girls Secondary School Doma tested positive with another one from Kumo.
He added that the index case of a returning student from Kaduna recorded on Monday has tested negative and discharged to resume taking his examination from the school.
According to him, all the COVID-19 positive students are writing their examinations under “the strict supervision of all the relevant authorities, including WAEC Supervisors, the state ministry of education and the state Covid-19 Taskforce.”
He said Gombe had recorded 607 cases with 594 recoveries and 23 deaths.
Commissioner for Education, Dr. Abu Dahiru, said the State Government was concentrating on strict COVID-19 tests for returning Unity school students because they are drawn from the 19 northern states.
“Some of these students are coming from states like Kano, Abuja and Kaduna which have a very high number of COVID-19 positive cases.
“We have to make sure that they are tested quickly before they start joining the community,” he said.
