Lagos Records One New COVID-19 Infection Despite Testing More People as Confirmed Cases Rise to 139

Femi Ashekun/

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) this evening confirmed four new cases of coronavirus in the country, with only one recorded in Lagos.

The lone case in Lagos came as the state expanded its testing capacity with the opening of a private sector funded drive-through testing centre in Yaba.

The mobile testing centre, which is the brainchild of Temie Giwa-Tubosun’s Life Bank Nigeria, was set up in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).

The centre which operates from the headquarters of NIMR, said it tested 70 people yesterday and hoped to increase the number to 100, subsequently.

The Director General of NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, also confirmed government’s plan to expand the testing capacity for Nigerians.

He said there had been systematic problems with testing and the current testing capacity is nearing 1000 per day but would soon be 1,500.

”The focus of all our efforts is to increase the number of people that are tested. As of last week, we had the capacity to test 500 per day. By the end of this week, we will be at a thousand per day.

”By next week, we plan to take it to 1500 per day just by increasing the number of labs,” he said.

In a tweet announcing the latest cases, NCDC wrote, “Four new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria; 3 in the FCT and 1 in Lagos

“As at 08:00 pm 31st March there are 139 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Nine have been discharged with two deaths.”

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