By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has approved Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Awka, Anambra State, as a Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing centre.

The approval is contained in a document entitled, “National Strategy to Scale Up Access to Coronavirus Disease testing in Nigeria” made available to journalists in Awka on Friday.

The document explained that the approval is part of the Federal Ministry of Health’s efforts to expand testing centres across board. It also noted that the ministry, through NCDC, has projected testing as one of the major steps in the COVID-19 response in Nigeria,

It stressed that in order to contain the outbreak, the government has decided to rapidly scale up diagnostic centres to cover all the 36 states in the country including FCT Abuja.

The document added: “In order to characterise the outbreak and understand the transmission of COVID-19, more people need to be tested.

“To achieve good result means leveraging the capacities and assets from other national disease programmes for efficiency.

“Nigeria has only 12 functional testing facilities in eight states with the capacity to conduct minimal of 1,500 tests per day in Lagos and 1,000 tests per day in Abuja and others.”

Confirming the approval, the Chief Medical Director of the Teaching Hospital, Dr. Basil Neankwo, said that the State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, is desirous of making sure that the centre begins operation immediately.

He said: “Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku, has been designated as a COVID-19 testing centre and we will do all within our capacity to support the fight against the spread of the scourge.”

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