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NCDC to increase COVID-19 test capacity to 1,500 per day

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The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said the centre would increase its COVID-19 test capacity to 1500 per day.

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said this on Tuesday.

Ihekweazu, who stated this at the Presidential Taskforce Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja, said the focus of the centre was to improve the number of people that could be tested for the disease in the country.

He said: “Last week, we had the capacity to test 500 per day, by the end of this week we will be at 1000 a day.

“By next week we are hoping to get to 1500 a day.”

Ihekweazu, however, said that Nigerians need to reduce the demand side of the testing to those who really needed it.

READ ALSO: Bauchi govt orders state lockdown over COVID-19

He noted that the more the people force themselves into being tested, the less NCDC would have the capacity to test those who really need the screening.

The NCDC announced four fresh cases of coronavirus in Ogun and Ogun States on Tuesday morning, bringing the number of people that had been infected by the disease in Nigeria to 135.

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