The Plateau Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dan Manjang, has said that the recent spike in the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state was as a result of high level of testing.

Speaking to newsmen in Jos, the commissioner said that there is an increase in testing at the community level but assured that everything was still under control.

“There is an increase in community testing for the disease as Plateau State has three testing centres now.”

Manjang said testing was going on in many communities in the state, which is being fully supported by traditional rulers.

He said the governor has also directed all civil servants in the state to go on compulsory COVID-19 test.

He said government had earmarked N11 billion in its revised 2020 budget to tackle the pandemic.

The commissioner assured civil servants that Governor Simon Lalong’s administration would sustain the payment of their salaries as well as payment of pension despite the economic challenges.

He said the administration has prioritised payment of salary and pensions since it came on board in 2015.

He said: “When we talk about payment of salary, some people say it is not an achievement and I ask; if payment of salary is not an achievement, what is lack of payment of salary that was witnessed during the previous administration.

“We have continued to pay salary as at when due including the seven to nine months of salary arrears inherited from the previous administration.

“We were about to pay the new minimum wage when COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

“We suspended it in collaboration with labour and we will resume when the situation improves.” (Daily Trust)

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