*Nigeria Centre for Disease Control Boss, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu at a function before the pandemic
Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General (DG), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) the agency remains focused on the fight against the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country insisting that it would increase testing for the virus across the country as a strategy to succeed in containing the disease.
The ‘embattled’ NCDC Boss gave the reassurance at the daily briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Boss Mustapha. He stated that the increasing cases of COVID-19 in Kano State were not surprising. He maybe reacting to the nonchalance attitude of both the government and people of Kano State who have continued to pretend as if they are not part of the global community as far as the virus is concerned.
He said, “I will like to remind everyone that we remain focused on our target, which is to increase testing across the country; during a pandemic, the risk of spread is in those towns where the population density is highest. We are all aware of the population density in Kano. The high number of cases we are now seeing in Kano is really not a surprise. Since reporting its index case about two weeks ago, Kano has been the centre of controversies ranging from the rapid increase in number of confirmed cases to the sudden halt of its only testing centre. Kano, which currently stands as the third hardest-hit state in Nigeria has so far reported 77 cases out of the 1,273 cases of the infection Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the NCDC is working hard to investigate the cause of some deaths in the state. The NCDC, he continued did everything possible to activate the Kano laboratory at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Again, he emphasized, “I am happy to announce that the Kano laboratory will start working this afternoon and start testing samples again as it should be. This has not been an easy effort. It has taken the collective effort of my team, the laboratory scientists in Kano and many people that have quietly worked on this to make it happen. We will not stop until the laboratory is fully functional again,” Dr. Ihekweazu affirmed.
