NCDC to Establish Molecular Laboratory in Nasarawa

By Adedapo Adesanya

• Nigeria works towards improving testing as COVID-19 cases near 30,000.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has disclosed that it will establish a molecular laboratory and an Emergency Operation Centre in Nasarawa State for the testing of coronavirus.

This was disclosed by NCDC Director-General, Mr Chikwe Ihekweazu, on Wednesday during a visit to Governor Abdullahi Sule at the Government House in Lafia, the state capital, after a facility tour on the ongoing diagnostic disease centre being constructed by the state government.

The laboratory will be set up at the Dangerous Disease Diagnostic Centre in the state.

This aligns with efforts by the Nigerian government towards ramping up testing of the prevalent diseases as the country draws nearer to hitting 30,000 cases, mostly in the next few hours.

On Tuesday, the NCDC announced 503 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 29,879. Fifteen deaths were also recorded from the virus, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths from the virus to 669.

There was, however, a drop in the number of confirmed cases reported yesterday compared to what was reported on Monday, 575.

The health agency said the 503 new cases were reported in 20 states including Lagos – 153, Ondo – 76, Edo – 54, FCT – 41, Enugu – 37, Rivers – 30, Benue – 24, Osun – 20, Kaduna – 15, Kwara – 13, Abia – nine, Borno – eight, Plateau – six, Taraba – five, Ogun – three, Kano – three, Kebbi – two, Nasarawa – two, Bayelsa – one and Gombe – one.

NCDC said as of the time of reporting, there were 17, 012 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, while 12,108 had recovered and have been discharged.

“Till date, 29,879 cases have been confirmed, 12,108 cases have been discharged and 669 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” the NCDC stated.

Lagos remains the epicentre of the disease in the country with 11,520 cases, while Zamfara has not reported any new confirmed case in the past 49 days.

As at Wednesday, official data gives a breakdown of the 29,879 confirmed cases: Lagos State – 11,520 cases, FCT – 2,322, Oyo – 1,530, Edo – 1,489, Delta – 1,285, Kano – 1,271, Rivers – 1,235, Ogun – 1,050, Kaduna – 883, Katsina – 628, Borno – 574, Ondo – 550, Gombe – 521, Bauchi – 516, Ebonyi – 503, Plateau – 460, Enugu – 418, Abia – 400, Imo – 352, Jigawa – 318, Kwara – 297, Bayelsa – 269, Nasarawa – 235, Osun – 198, Sokoto – 153, Niger – 122, Benue – 121, Akwa Ibom – 112, Adamawa – 99, Kebbi – 86, Zamfara – 76, Anambra – 73, Yobe – 61, Ekiti – 45, Taraba- 27, Kogi – five, and Cross River – five.