Coronavirus: Nigeria Tests Over 2,000 People, Now Tracing 6,000 Others As NCDC Predicts Increase In Cases
Nigeria has tested over 2,000 people for COVID-19, with less than 10 per cent testing positive.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, said this during his appearance on Channels Television.
He stated that the agency was working to track about 6,000 people who have been in contact with persons who tested positive to COVID-19.
He added that;
In the short-term, the numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 are expected to keep rising, but NCDC also expect to be able to get on top of this. We expect cases of COVID-19 to rise as we improve capacity to detect and test. Our laboratories are activated to function 24/7.
We appeal to Nigerians to work with us in compliance with the measures instituted by the president.
The NCDC chief said there was a need to prevent further transmission of the virus, noting that the president’s speech was a call for Nigerians to come together.
He added that the measures that have been implemented would work in curbing the spread of the virus and appealed to Nigerians to bear the few weeks of pain that would come.
The NCDC boss said that Nigeria has been lucky not to have had too many severe cases of COVID-19.
He disclosed that NCDC has currently tested well over 2,000 people and has also increased the number of laboratories in its network.
NCDC had earlier announced that it has increased the number of its testing laboratories from five to six, a figure expected to rise to seven by Monday.
Ihekweazu however said;
Everyday NCDC is improving the turnaround time. We are being bogged down by people who do not require the test. So we have to manage demand. We have to focus on those who need it the most.
The duration between testing and results depends on several factors. But it is between 24 to 48 hours. Our target is to get results out in 12 hours.
MDB had on Sunday night reported that a total of 111 people have now tested positive to the virus, as of Sunday night, according to the NCDC.
Currently, Lagos has 68 cases; Abuja – 21, Ogun – three, Ekiti – one, Oyo – seven, Osun – two, Enugu – two, Edo – two, Bauchi – two, while Benue, Kaduna and Rivers have one case respectively.
