NCDC says 22,000 persons have been tested for coronavirus

The Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, said about 22,000 people have been tested for coronavirus in Nigeria.

Ihekweazu made this known while speaking at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja on Thursday, May 7, 2020.

He said the figures the NCDC shared with the public only provides information on those tested and not the numbers of tests conducted.

He added that individuals who tested positive still have to undergo a series of tests, adding that those tests do not count as part of the figures the agency shares every day.

He said, “The data shared is on people tested not on tests done. The data we share when we say we have done about 22,0000 tested, those are on people tested, we don’t include all the series of tests.

“Every individual that is positive will have to be tested every three, four or five days. And some would have stayed in the hospital for about four weeks, so all those are tests being done as well and all of that are on the lab.

“So the numbers are really not fully representing the works being done in the labs across the country. We are not reflecting those numbers in the numbers we share every day.”

He also said that 21 laboratories are now operational to boost COVID-19 testing capacity in the country.

As of Wednesday, May 6, 2020, Nigeria had recorded 3,145 confirmed cases of the disease.

The NCDC also announced that 534 patients have been discharged, while 103 persons have died so far.