May 18, 2021

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), says it has carried out 2,002,653 tests since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby delivering on its self-imposed target of two million tests in the country.

The NCDC disclosed this in a series of tweets late Monday night.

In April 28, 2020, the agency had said that in terms of testing capacity in the country, it had targeted conducting tests for two million Nigerians in three months.

“The NCDC Laboratory Strategic Group has set itself a target of testing two million people across Nigeria in the next three months.

The two million will come to about 50,000 per State, which it noted was a very ambitious target.

The country has now conducted about 2,002,653 tests since the first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic was announced in the country on February 27, 2020.

The NCDC stated that the country’s COVID-19 cases had increased by 69, making a total of 165,778 confirmed cases as at May 17.

It stated that the 69 additional cases were registered from three states and the Federal Capital Territory, noting that Ondo topped with 35 cases, followed by Lagos 30, while Rivers and the FCT reported 3 and 1 respectively.

The death toll in the country it said has risen to 2,067, as one additional fatality was recorded.

While three people in the country have recovered after they were successfully treated, the agency said the total number of recoveries from the virus now stands at 156,415, as about 7,224 active cases have now been recorded.