Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, has denied that there was a resurgence of COVID-19 in Benue State.

NCDC described the report on the resurgence of COVID-19 resurgence in the state as a complete misrepresentation of the statement by the World Health Organisations, WHO “However, the nation’s public health agency with the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection, and response to public health emergencies, confirmed that in the last quarter of the year (October to December 2023), there have been a total of 15,481 test conducted out of which 75 confirmed cases were recorded in 25 states.

Its Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, said: “NCDC)is aware of the news report on the detection of 25 new COVID-19 cases in Benue State.

“The report is a complete misinterpretation of a statement made on December 11, 2023, by WHO State surveillance officer at the Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, and Media Personnel Meeting organised by the Benue State Primary Healthcare Board in collaboration with the WHO.

“The surveillance officer, while giving her presentation on the epidemiology of COVID-19 in Benue, stated that “Benue State had recorded a total of 25 cases in the year 2023 with the last case recorded as of mid-April (epi week 18).

“The information provided by the surveillance officer was based on the publicly available situation report (SITREP) published weekly by the state Ministry of Health.

“Since the announcement of the index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria, there has been a total “number 6,013, 826 tests conducted of 267,184 confirmed cases and 3,155 deaths.

“In the last quarter of the year (October to December 2023), there have been a total of 15,481 test conducted, 75 confirmed cases confirmed cases in 25 states.

“Since the WHO official declaration that COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health “emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the Federal Government, through NCDC, has included COVID-19 in the integrated disease surveillance strategy as a priority infectious disease which now requires conducting routine COVID-19 testing and reporting it along with other infectious diseases.”

“COVID-19 testing is part of clinical care for pandemic flu preparedness, and bi-directional testing during investigations for influenza, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and in high-risk populations.

“As COVID-19 may be associated with severe illness, hospitalization, and death among the “elderly and other established high-risk groups, we continue to test for and detect COVID-19 “cases throughout the year from patients presenting with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections, SARI, or Influenza-like illness, ILI.

“Ongoing efforts to streamline surveillance for pandemic influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens of interest e.g., Respiratory Syncytial Virus, RSV, infections include the transition from existing sentinel influenza surveillance and COVID-19 testing platforms to a pan-respiratory disease surveillance (PRDS) platform that will pick up changes in admissions and other outcomes related to priority respiratory pathogens,” he added.

Stakeholders advocate HIV self-testing

Meanwhile, besides the matter of COVID-19 resurgence, critical stakeholders in the health sector have advocated increased awareness in self-testing, especially on diseases like COVID-19, malaria and HIV.

They also called on the government to deploy concerted efforts to make self-test kits not only available but also free for citizens, saying it was one of the ways of reducing the nation’s morbidity and mortality rate.

But report from a market research on a self-testing project undertaken to enhance access to COVID-19 testing, isolation, care, and treatment interventions within healthcare systems in the Federal Capital Territory, showed that most people who obtained free test kids and ran the test, however, did not show up for documentation, probably due to what they discovered.

Speaking variously at the Self-Testing Africa COVID-19 (STAR – COVID-19) Project Dissemination Meeting, organised by Society for Family Health, SFH, in collaboration with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, in Abuja yesterday, participants stressed the need for increased awareness on self-testing in the country.

At the event which was expected to strengthen HIV self-testing in the private sector and reduce morbidity and mortality rates among COVID-19-infected individuals in Nigeria, participants said self-testing has come to stay, hence the need for support through increased awareness and availability of subsidised or free kits for citizens.

National Vice Chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Bridget Otote, who served as Director, Lead Programme Delivery of the project, said self-testing was doing great good for Nigeria. (Vanguard)

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