The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that it will follow up on over 6,000 contact tracing, to curb the spread of the Novel Coronavirus(COVID-19), pandemic in the country.
The Director General of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, addressed this on Monday on a Channels TV programme, while, speaking on COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
According to him, ”in the short-term, the numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 are expected to keep rising, but NCDC also expects 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,” he said.
Ihekweazu then expressed that there was need to prevent further transmission of this virus. He also noted that the President’s speech was a call for Nigerians to come together.
He said that the measures that have been implemented would work in curbing the spread of the virus, and thereby appealed to Nigerians to bear the few weeks of pain that would come.
Speaking further, the NCDC boss maintained that Nigeria has been lucky not to have had too many severe cases of COVID-19.
He then disclosed that NCDC has currently tested well over 2,000 people and has also increased the number of laboratories in its network.
“Everyday NCDC are 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,” he said.
Still speaking, the DG, said that the success of the measures put in place to contain COVID-19 would depend largely on the willingness of Nigerians to work with the NCDC team.
“Our team is working round the clock to improve turn-around time for testing in all our six molecular laboratories”
“We aim to scale up to 13 labs in next three weeks. In progress – Abakaliki, Maiduguri, Kano, Sokoto, Port-Harcourt, Jos and Kaduna States,” he said.
He however mentioned that the laboratories would also provide diagnostic support for a number of states in the country.
Meanwhile, Ihekweazu acknowledged not knowing, if people who recover from Coronavirus, test positive again; adding that there were a lot NCDC does not know yet about the disease.
He therefore noted that the NCDC ability to flatten the curve of COVID-19 will depend on all Nigerians.
“Our goal is to mobilise all available resources to tackle COVID-19. We remain grateful for the support we have received so far from stakeholders and partners.”
