Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that two laboratories have been added to existing ones for testing purposes.
Nigeria currently tests for COVID-19 at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Disease at Redeemers’ University, Ede, Osun State; NCDC National Reference Laboratory (NRL), Gaduwa, Abuja; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos; Nigeria Institute for Medical Research, Lagos; Irrua Teaching Hospital, Edo State; and University College Hospital, Ibadan.
NCDC, in a tweet Saturday night, said: “We have expanded the number of laboratories with the capacity to test for COVID-19 to six with the inclusion of the Virology Laboratory of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
“Tomorrow (Sunday), we will be in Abakaliki to set up another laboratory as we quickly ramp up COVID-19 testing capacity in Nigeria.”
Before now, Nigerians had called for expansion of the testing centres to allow for more people to run the tests, but government complained about shortage of PCR machines and reagents.
Meanwhile, the president of the College of Nigerian Pathologists, Prof. Phillip Olatunji, in a statement released in Abuja on Saturday, indicated that his colleagues were dissatisfied with the restriction of COVID-19 testing centres to a few locations across Nigeria, even when many tertiary hospitals have the capacity for accurate testing for coronavirus, and suggested that government should substantially decentralise the testing centres as a strategy to accelerate the control of the outbreak.
He said his colleagues had in their various capacities played leadership roles in case identification, case management and development of guidelines and protocol for infection prevention and control of COVID-19, but were unhappy that government never considered them in certain professional engagements.
Meanwhile, the Senate has challenged banks to halt the seeming fixation on Lagos by extending assistance in tackling COVID-19 to other parts of the country.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, in a statement yesterday, said financial institutions should look beyond Lagos, as other states in the country also needed help.
“The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions is delighted at the stimulus packages being rolled out by Nigerian banks to assist in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and cushion its effect on Nigerians, especially those resident in Lagos State,” the statement read. “This is quite commendable and will go a long way in renewing the confidence of Nigerians in the banking sector and projecting it as highly responsible and responsive.
“We have, however, observed with concern that all the interventions are concentrated in Lagos State, which understandably is currently the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria. However, as the COVID-19 virus spreads, other parts of Nigeria seem to have been given little or no consideration. Lagos State cannot be safe if other states in the federation are unsafe.
“Just the way Lagos State requires isolation centres, testing and protection kits, other states are in dire need of the same assistance. If the assistance is evenly distributed and coordinated, we are most likely to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and resume the arduous task of rebuilding our economy.
“We urge Nigerian banks to review their strategies and come up with inclusive frameworks for intervention. Stimulus packages that include all states of the federation would be more impactful than one that draws the ire of bank customers across the country and consequently diminishes the confidence of the people in the sector.”