SEVEN private laboratories have now been licensed by the Lagos State government to enhance COVID-19 sample testing in the state, according to Health Commissioner, Akin Abayomi.

Abayomi in an update on the state’s COVID-19 situation on Friday said that the private laboratories were selected through a rigorous accreditation process.

On the list are: Total Medical Services; SynLab; 54Gene; Medbury Medical Services; Biologix Medical Services; 02 Medical Services and Clina Lancent Laboratories.

He said that it was imperative that COVID-19 tests be widely available to members of the public as the state continuously opened up various aspects of its economy.

The state, he added, took the strategic decision to include private laboratories in its testing of COVID-19 in a bid to ramp up its capacity.

He, however, said that the state’s COVID-19 response would remain a centrally managed emergency response by the government.

“We expect the selected laboratories to commence testing COVID-19 cases within the next few days,” the commissioner said.

According to him, 9,497 cases have been confirmed COVID-19 positive in Lagos, while 1,470 have been treated and discharged at the state’s isolation centres.

He said that 128 patients or 1.3 per cent of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in Lagos, had died of the virus.

Abayomi said that between three to five per cent of Lagos residents infected with COVID-19 had an extremely severe to critical form of the virus.

The commissioner noted that the risk of dying in that percentage of patients with severe symptoms was extremely high.

“We say that most people have a mild to moderate disease, while that might be so, between three to five per cent of Lagosians that got infected with the virus have an extremely severe to critical form of COVID-19.

“The risk of dying in that percentage is extremely high.Two, three or four per cent might seem like a small percentage, but even, one per cent of 25 million people is too much, that’s about 250, 000 Lagosians..We are not prepared to lose 250, 000 Lagosians to the virus, and certainly will not like to contemplate that number,” he said.