Covid-19 Will Reach All States in Nigeria – NCDC

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Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, today, said the coronavirus pandemic will get to all the 36 states.

Ihekweazu, while speaking on Channels Television Sunrise Daily programme monitored by NewsmakersNG, said COVID-19 cannot be stopped from getting to all states because it is a “respiratory virus”.

“Now, COVID-19 is at the moment in 22 states but it will grow to every state in Nigeria, there is no reason why it won’t because it is a respiratory virus,” he noted.

He said NCDC will continue to be transparent with its operations and emphasised that the virus “will circulate in Nigeria, absolutely no doubt.”

“We just activated the lab in Kano a few days ago. So, these are the results of the increased testing capacity that we are providing for the country.”

“The tests are fairly robust; I can’t say 100 per cent but they are as close to that as possible. We had the highest number of positive cases in a single day.

“Since the onset of the outbreak, we are testing a lot more (and) that is beginning to show. It is only so much we can do from NCDC; we are working with the state governments,” Ihekweazu said.

“They actually own the response at the state and local levels, and we need all of them now. We really have to face the reality that this is an outbreak, this is a virus.

“It will circulate in Nigeria, absolutely no doubt and our responsibility as a country is to prepare more, to be able to detect, isolate, treat, list contacts, and stop transmission,” he further noted.

The disease has affected 407 individuals in Nigeria across 22 states. While 128 persons had been discharged, the country has recorded 12 deaths.

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