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Nigerians will soon have the opportunity of knowing their status within 30 minutes of undergoing COVID-19 test, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said yesterday.
The agency said Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits will be deployed in general and tertiary hospitals.
It said the decision was predicated on the success recorded in using RDTs to test National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in their camps.
The RDTs typically give test result within a maximum 30 minutes, unlike the PCR machines that can take between 24 to 72 hours or more to diagnose COVID-19 samples.
Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, represented by Director of Surveillance and Epidemiology, Mrs. Elsie Ilori, added: Following the successful use of the RDT kits that were used during the NYSC camping, we also have plans to roll out the RDT in the hospitals, especially to the general and tertiary hospitals, to test health workers and patients in line with our guidelines.
“Now we are having increasing infections among health workers. We are appealing to our health workers not to let their guards down and make sure that they adhere to the infection prevention and control measures to prevent themselves from getting infected.”
The NCDC chief added: “The number of new cases is rising and it is alarming. We have to be very careful. Over the last week, we have done over 40,000 tests and we have increased the national testing. Increasing the national testing is the only way we can understand the burden of the disease, particularly now that we are recording very high cases.
“The reality of the increasing transmission is the test positive rate and the number of confirmed cases giving a cause for concern. It is important that we strictly adhere to the non-pharmaceutical interventions, and that includes the proper wearing of our masks, practice regular hand-washing and maintain physical distance.”
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, represented by the Director of Hospital Services in the Ministry, Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi, stated: “As at today (yesterday), 92,705 cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed in Nigeria with 76,396 cases successfully treated and discharged. 1,319 deaths have been recorded.
“We have now crossed the one million mark having tested 1,004,915 samples.
“All our laboratories are functioning and have been supplied with enough test kits and consumables. States have been supplied with sample collection kits. What is left is for citizens to present themselves for testing. If you have symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, cough, sudden loss of taste and smell or fever, please visit a sample collection site nearest to you and get tested.”
Chairman of the PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, lamented Nigerians’ nonchalant attitude to the virus.
He said: “As the government is working round the clock to secure a safe and right vaccines for the country, we call on the media, traditional and religious as well as our community leaders, to pass the right message to their followers so that together, we can win this war against this virus.
“To overcome some of these challenges, the PTF will intensify the risk communication and community engagement to create awareness. The share level of doubts about the virus is alarming and I call on every one to become advocates in support of the National Response.
According to him, on Wednesday, Nigeria recorded 1,664 infections, which is an all-time high.