COVID-19: NCDC warns against virus explosion, decries inadequate testing

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has lamented the trend of deliberate refusal by some states in Nigeria to carry out adequate testing and has thus warned against another COVID-19 explosion in the country.

The warning was issued on Tuesday by the NCDC Director-General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, while appearing on Arise TV, where he noted that some states were unable to ascertain the number of COVID-19 cases in their domain.

Dr. Ihekweazu however expressed delight that NCDC can establish that fewer cases were being reported than it was in the last six months, adding that he was especially impressed about the progress made in a few states in the country, especially Lagos.

According to him, many states are not learning from others and so are not testing enough and not finding enough.

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“I am very worried that we might find an explosion in those states, which would then affect the rest of the country again,” Dr. Ihekweazu lamented during the TV programme.

This came after the NCDC said that the reopening of schools and airports would lead to an upsurge in COVID-19 transmission.

The NCDC said that out of the 36 states, only Lagos, Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Kano states had been consistently carrying out a high volume of Covid-19 testing across the country.

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