By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has received a donation of three Smart COVID-19 Walk-through Testing Booths from the Government of the Republic of Korea through KOICA Nigeria Office.
In a press release on Friday, it was noted that this will help to boost national scale-up of sample collection and testing capacity for COVID-19 in Nigeria.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Mr Woochan Chang KOICA Nigeria Office Country Director said, “The Smart Walk-through Booths will improve protection for medical staff during sample collection, and support mass screening for COVID-19 in Nigeria in a timely and efficient manner.”
The total coronavirus infections in Nigeria rose to 57,849 after 125 new cases were recorded in the nation in the last 24 hours.
While there are still about 7,500 active cases in Nigeria, 49,098 infected persons have recovered and have been discharged across the 36 states and federal capital, Abuja.
Till date, 1,102 COVID-19 related deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. No death was recorded on Thursday.
Nigeria is yet to record a daily infection tally above 300 in more than a month, an indication that either the worst is behind or that the country is not testing as it should.
Nigeria is the third most impacted country in Africa with South Africa recording the highest number of COVID-19 cases on the continent.
Recently, there have been warnings about the possibility of a second wave of the disease especially as religious and educational activities have resumed in the country.
One of which is a technical adviser in the implementation of NCDC’s action plan in Adamawa State, Mr Fahad Mohammed, who dropped the hint during the sensitisation of officials of the Nigerian police, civil defence, immigration and correctional services, and road safety personnel in Yola. He said that the NCDC was driven to ensure more persons are tested so that the spread of this deadly disease can be addressed and tamed.
Mr Mohammed explained that the biggest concern was that people are not taking tests, “because some of them do not believe that the pandemic is real and that is why we have a low number of positive cases.
“Where you observe low numbers, it means tests are not being undertaken and if you are doing a lot of tests and getting negative results, then you ask who are the people being tested? What is the criteria?” he noted.
This is coming especially at a time when Europe has started experiencing a massive rise in cases, with as much as 10,000 cases recorded in a day.
Aduragbemi Omiyale