COVID-19: NCDC activates additional laboratories in Ogun, Katsina

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said on Tuesday the centre had activated an additional two laboratories, bringing its total number of laboratories to 28.

Ihekweazu told journalists in Abuja that the agency was pleased at the activation of the two laboratories for inclusion in its molecular laboratory network.

According to him, the two laboratories are located at Afriglobal Medicare Laboratory in Ogun and the Sahel Centre for Molecular Diagnostics and Research in Katsina State.

He told journalists that the NCDC had a testing strategy, adding that it was using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to scale the COVID-19 test.

Ihekweazu said: “At the moment, the COVID-19 tests that we report daily are coming from the PCR. It detects genetic information of the virus, the RNA.

“PCR tests are used to directly detect the presence of an antigen rather than the presence of the body’s immune response or antibodies.

“By detecting viral RNA, the tests can tell whether or not someone has the virus very early.

Ihekweazu said that PCR remained the most accurate method of determining infection.