The Nigeria Centre for Disease control, NCDC, says it has begun the use of the COBAS system at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, for #COVID19 testing.

The NCDC disclosed this in a tweet on Tuesday.

According to the Centre, the process which started today will enable it test approximately 960 samples in 8 hours.

“This begins the 2nd prong of our national strategy to integrate lab systems and increase testing capacity. In activating the use of this technology for #COVID19 testing, this will be expanded to 2 more labs in the next 30 days”.

“We are pleased to announce the inclusion of two new laboratories in Lagos and Ogun, established by @weare54gene
in collaboration with the State governments and the NCDC. This brings the number of laboratories in our molecular lab network to 17 and expands national testing capacity”.

NCDC boss, Chikwe Ihekweazu 

However, earlier on Tuesday at the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19, the NCDC boss Chikwe Ihekweazu said, “In collaboration with partners we have expanded our testing capacity. The lab strategic group for #COVID19 in Nigeria set a target to test two million people in 3 months”.

“Our goal remains to reduce transmission and we urge the public to avoid unessential travel. The only entry point to the control of #COVID19 in Nigeria is through testing”.

He however added that as we continue to scale up our testing capacity, “we seek strong collaboration of state governments and public health teams to ramp up sample collection from the right people”