Nigeria yesterday recorded 663 new cases of coronavirus contagion, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 13, 464.
A late night tweet by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that Lagos, Ogun and Bauchi accounted for the highest number of reported cases.
A breakdown of the cases showed that Lagos State reported 170 cases; Ogun-108; Bauchi-69; Ebonyi-49; Edo-33; Rivers-30; FCT-26; Jigawa-26; Delta-20; Anambra-17; Gombe-16; Kano-16; Imo-15; Abia-14; Borno-11; Oyo-11; Plateau-8; Kebbi-6; Kaduna-6; Ondo-4; Niger-2; Katsina-2; Osun-1; Ekiti-1; Kwara-1 and Nasarawa-1.
The agency said so far 13, 464 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in the country with 4, 206 and 365 deaths.
A breakdown of the 13, 464 confirmed cases shows that Lagos State has so far reported 6,065 cases, Kano – 1,020, FCT – 1,012, Ogun – 471, Edo – 462, Katsina – 399, Oyo – 398, Rivers – 394, Kaduna – 369, Borno – 367, Bauchi – 364, Jigawa – 309, Gombe – 246, Delta – 175, Ebonyi – 152, Kwara – 143, Sokoto – 129, Plateau – 128, Nasarawa – 113, Abia – 97, Imo – 83, Zamfara – 76, Yobe – 52, Osun 50, Niger – 46, Anambra – 46, Ondo – 46, Akwa Ibom – 45, Kebbi – 41, Adamawa – 42, Enugu – 30, Ekiti – 30, Bayelsa – 30, Taraba – 18, Benue – 13, and Kogi – 3.
The NCDC has so far tested 79, 948 samples since the disease debuted in the country on February 27, 2020 with 8, 893 active cases as of the time of this report.
Meanwhile, the director of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said the agency activated three additional laboratories, bringing the total number that can carry out polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for the COVID-19 in Nigeria to 33.
He told NAN in an interview that the three laboratories were the Biorepository and Clinical Virology Laboratory at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State; Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Infectious Disease Unit, General Hospital, Ituk Mkpang, Akwa-Ibom and Jigawa State Molecular Laboratory, Dutse.
He said NCDC was currently using the PCR method to test for the COVID-19 virus, in the absence of validated alternative methods.
“At the moment, the COVID-19 tests that we report daily are coming from the PCR, they detect the genetic information of the virus and the RNA. That’s only possible if the virus is there and someone is actively infected.
“By detecting viral RNA, the tests can tell whether or not someone has the virus very early on,” he explained.
He added that PCR remains the most accurate method to determine who was infected.
Ihekweazu noted that by scaling up on laboratory testing, the NCDC and other relevant government institutions would get a better understanding of the level of spread of the virus.
”By the end of June, our goal is to include at least 10 more laboratories with current Gene-Xpert capacity in the network for COVID-19 testing,” Ihekweazu said.
He further noted that PCR tests could be very labour intensive, with several stages at which errors might occur between sampling and analysis.
“This is why the agency has focused on strengthening quality assurance in its network of laboratories.
“Countries have adopted varying strategies for COVID-19 diagnosis, and for us in Nigeria, it is important that we get it right.
“Nigeria has its national testing strategy for COVID-19 with detailed information on how we will ramp-up testing for various phases of transmission by leveraging existing capacity and technology.
“We are thinking ahead and also have plans in place to meet the demands for testing at various points of the response,” he said.
