Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says the number of persons traced for having contacts with coronavirus (COVID-19) carriers has risen from 4,370 to 6,000.
Also, the number of infected persons now stands at 131 as at Monday evening after the disease control centre announced 20 new cases.
Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed the new figure during an interview on television.
“This few weeks will also help our team and the Lagos State team, to have access to the contacts that are living around Lagos and around FCT (Federal Capital Territory). We are following over 6,000 contacts of these 111 cases across these two cities and others,” he said.
“Every time we have a new case, we had about 50 to 60 contact that we then have to follow every single day for 14 days. This is one of the reasons why the President took the very difficult decision to lockdown some parts of the country.
“It is not just to stop movement, but it is to enable us and our teams – the Lagos State team and FCT team, to reach the contacts, keep them at home, and make sure that they are supported. And it also to see if you can buy more time to get ahead of the cases.”
“We expect cases of COVID-19 to rise as we improve capacity to detect and test. Our laboratories are activated to function 24/7.
“We appeal to Nigerians to work with us in compliance with the measures instituted by the President.”
He expressed optimism that the measures that have been implemented would work in curbing the spread of the virus.
Urging Nigerians to bear the few weeks of pain that would come, Ihekweazu said the country had been lucky to not have had too many severe cases of COVID-19.
He disclosed that NCDC has so far tested well over 2,000 people and had also increased the number of laboratories in its network.
He said: “Everyday, NCDC is improving the turnaround time. We are being bogged down by people who do not require the test. So we have to manage demand. We have to focus on those who need it the most.
“The duration between testing and results depends on several factors. But, it is between 24 to 48 hours. Our target is to get results out in 12 hours
The NCDC DG added that the success of the measures put in place to contain COVID-19 would depends largely on the willingness of Nigerians to work with his team.
“Our team is working round the clock to improve turn-around time for testing in all our six molecular laboratories”
“We aim to scale up to 13 labs in next three weeks. In progress- Abakaliki, Maiduguri, Kano, Sokoto, Port Harcourt, Jos and Kaduna,” he said.
Ihekweazu said the laboratories would also provide diagnostic support for a number of states in the country.
He acknowledged not knowing if people who recover test positive again,adding that there were a lot NCDC does not know yet about the disease.
He, however, added that the NCDC ability to flatten the curve of COVID-19 will depend on all Nigerians.
“Our goal is to mobilise all available resources to tackle COVID-19. We remain grateful for the support we have received so far from stakeholders and partners,” he added.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed last Thursday said the country had “4,370 people of interest ,who are returnees from Europe that submitted wrong addresses on arrival at the nation’s international airports.”
