Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has said that the remaining states in Nigeria that have not recorded COVID-19 cases cannot hide it.
There are only four states at the moment that have not reported a case in Nigeria – Cross River, Kogi, Nasarawa and Yobe.
According to the DG of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, eventually, it will emerge. And it is better to understand what is happening early than leave it till we start hearing stories of death.
Iheakwazu also asked states to collect more samples from people who meet the case definition for testing, saying there was no need playing with figures.
“We are looking at the number of samples collected from these states. We are not satisfied with the number of samples collected.
“We need to test more, but to test more, we need to collect more and that collection part is the responsibility of states and their Public Health teams.
“We want to really encourage every state in Nigeria, you cannot hide this. Eventually, it will emerge. It is better we understand what is happening early than leave it till we start hearing stories of death. So, we are really encouraging the Public Health Teams in these states to push out their people that have Pneumonia, acute respiratory infections and others. There is absolutely no doubt about this. Please, collect samples and send them to us, let us test and know whether you have this thing circulating in your states and mount an appropriate response. If it is not there, it is not there, but we cannot know if we do not test”, he added.
Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce PTF on Covid-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha on his part said; “the PTF shall continue to pursue the strategy of aggressive testing, detection, isolation, contact tracing, care and management. Similarly, non-pharmaceutical measures will be enhanced”.
“Over the last four weeks, we made appreciable progress but we are not yet out of the woods because a lot more is required to be done. Nigerians at all levels must take responsibility for our actions, adopt behavioural modification, ensure compliance with advisories and provide guidance to our followers and youths.
“The situation in Kano is being addressed very closely by the NCDC in strong partnership with the State government and guidance by the Federal Ministry of health as well as support from our development partners”, Mustapha added.
