The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has activated three more laboratories, bringing the total number of labs that can carry out PCR testing for Coronavirus in Nigeria to 33.
The Director-General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who disclosed this on Tuesday, mentioned the new laboratories as: Biorepository and Clinical Virology Laboratory UCH, Ibadan, Oyo; Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Infectious Disease Unit, General Hospital, Ituk Mkpang, Akwa-Ibom and Jigawa State Molecular Laboratory, Dutse.
He said that NCDC was currently using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method to test for the COVID-19 virus, in the absence of validated alternative methods.
“At the moment, the COVID-19 tests that we report daily are coming from the PCR, they detect the genetic information of the virus and the RNA. That’s only possible if the virus is there and someone is actively infected.
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“By detecting viral RNA, the tests can tell whether or not someone has the virus very early on,” he said.
The director-general said that PCR remained the most accurate method to determine who was infected.
According to him, by scaling up on laboratory testing, the NCDC and other relevant government institutions would gain a better understanding of the level of spread of the virus.
He said the centre was targeting to activate at least 10 more laboratories with current Gene-Xpert capacity in the network for COVID-19 testing by the end of June.
