Coronavirus: Nigeria in dire straits, needs test kits desperately – NCDC DG

…to date Nigeria has conducted 10, 061, Ghana 100, 622, S’Africa 161, 000, Egypt 90, 000

With the rising cases of COVID-19 and to cater for the expansion of its testing capacity, Nigeria desperately needs more of the RNA extraction kits.

The Director-General, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),  Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu,  said on his twitter handle on Sunday: “We’re desperately looking for more RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) extraction kits as we expand #COVID19 testing.

“Product: Total viral RNA extraction kits (preferably spin column and with a lysis buffer). Manufacturers: Qiagen, ThermoFischer, SeeGene, Inqaba, LifeRiver etc.”

He gave the specifications of the test kits the country was looking for and the preferred manufacturers.

Ihekweazu’s call for more kits came amid growing criticisms that the centre was not responding efficiently to the demands of Nigerians, seeking test.

Persecondnews had reported that Salma Ahmed, a grief-stricken septuagenarian mother-in-law of a Kano-based bank’s Regional Manager had accused the Kano State Government and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) of negligence and shoddiness in handling the COVID-19 case.

Specifically, she accused them of paying a lip-service to the fight against coronavirus by poor or no response to evacuation and testing of suspected cases.

Also, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) had in a statement last week, said his friend who had difficulty in breathing, was told at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, to wait till next week.

Adegboruwa said his friend eventually contacted the testing centre at Eti-Osa and he had been booked for testing on Monday (April 27).

NCDC had earlier said it had added two more laboratories to the existing 13 laboratories in the country.

At the April 21 media briefing of the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19 in Abuja, the NCDC DG had said that the centre would increase the nation’s testing capacity to 4,000 per day across the country with 2,000 samples to be done per day in Lagos State following a presidential directive.

Persecondnews recalls that Ghana has conducted 100,622 tests, South Africa, 161,000, Egypt, 90,000 and Nigeria, 10,061.

South Africa with 4,361 confirmed cases and a population of 59.1 million people has conducted 161,000 tests.

Egypt with 4,319 confirmed cases and a population of 101.9 million people conducted 90,000 tests. Djibouti with 1,023 confirmed cases and a population of 985,433 conducted 11,741 tests.

Kenya with 355 confirmed cases and a population of 53.5 million conducted 17,492 tests. Nigeria with 1,182 confirmed cases and a population of 205.2 million people conducted 10,061 tests.