COVID-19: States not bringing in enough samples, says NCDC

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The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, on Thursday disclosed that many states across the country are still not bringing in enough samples for COVID-19 testing.

This according to him, will determine how close the country can get to reaching a peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that although the laboratory networks across the country have the combined capacity to carry out 10,000 daily tests, however, the total number of daily tests still hovers around 2,000 or less. Currently, laboratories are working only at 10 to 20 percent of their capacity.

Ihekweazu, who made this known during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, in Abuja, said: “We are pushing hard and we are around 2,000 tests per day and sometimes a little bit less. Over the last two days, we have activated new labs in Ibadan, Akwa Ibom and Jigawa States. In Ondo State, the Lassa fever lab is being converted right now. There is a lot of work going on.

“However, the collection of samples really happens in the States. Right now, our labs are working between 10 to 20 percent of capacity; we have the capacity to test a lot more –  about 10,000 samples a day and probably more if we are pushed hard.

“We will continue to push testing capacity until every state is able to test in their state. We are challenging the states leading the contact tracing and case identification to bring in the samples so that we can collectively know how close we are to the peak.

“The laboratories are there but the samples are not coming in as sufficiently as we want. We want every state to push harder. The only way we can know that we are on top of this is really by testing, and we are ready to do that.

“Gene Xpert locations will start functioning from the 14th of June 2020. We have been working over the past two weeks to distribute the cartridges to the first seven centres, to train them and make sure that they are ready.”

He added: “As we have eased the restrictions that we instituted across the country, we expected the number to increase and we have announced this severally to expect an increase in numbers.

“So, this increase in numbers is not unusual, and as we increase testing and ease the lockdown, therefore, it is most likely that we will see an increase in numbers. Whether that increase continues or not depends on our collective action. Sometimes these numbers are necessary to remind us of that reality.”

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, in his address explained that COVID-19 patients are most infectious during their asymptomatic stage.

He therefore, advised that the cheapest and easiest way to protect oneself is with a cloth mask, while adhering to other non-pharmaceutical measures like distancing, handwashing and respiratory hygiene.

He said: “We have learned, for example, that patients are most infectious during the asymptomatic stage, and spread the virus even if they do not look or feel ill, or before their symptoms appear.

“We also learn that patients with no COVID-19 symptoms may no longer be infectious after 14 days, even if PCR tests identify RNA evidence of virus in them. Global experience is that up to 45 percent of infected people may have no symptoms at all.

“In Nigeria, the proportion of confirmed cases that are symptomatic compared to asymptomatic is 39 percent and 61 percent respectively, which means that if 10 persons are able to infect you with COVID-19, four of them will look very well indeed. Another three or four will have mild symptoms that can be trivialized, even by healthcare workers, which may explain the initial relatively high rate of infection among them.”

He added: “Although numbers are only creeping up compared to other countries and case fatality rate hovers around 3 percent, we are concerned and at high alert. We have no room for complacency or over-confidence, and need to be ready for any sudden shift in fortune.

“We have commenced planning for targeted community sensitization activities in 20 high burden Local Government Areas and workshop in Infection Prevention and Control on COVID19 for healthcare workers of Public and Private Hospitals in the FCT.”