Dr Chikwe Iheakweazu DG NCDC

Dr. Chikwe Iheakweazu DG NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced the inclusion of two more laboratories into the country’s COVID-19 pandemic molecular network.

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, NCDC Director-General, said the additional laboratories bring the total number of molecular laboratories in the network to 17.

In a bid to expand testing capacity in Nigeria, NCDC DG said that two private laboratories were now on board- the DNA laboratory in Kaduna and the 54 Gene laboratory in Lagos and Ogun.

According to him, the 54 Gene will be the first to launch the first mobile COVID-19 testing laboratory in Ogun using a 40ft container.

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Ihekweazu said that all these were aimed at scaling up testing across the country for mobility, speed, and access to win the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that the country now can do a minimum of over three thousand tests daily.

NCDC has fully set up an expanded laboratory network for COVID-19 across the six geopolitical zones, as 13 laboratories had been activated.