Coronavirus: Nigerians are not coming out to test - NCDC Boss

Nigerians do not have enough confidence to test for coronavirus, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu has said.

The NCDC boss made this known in an interview on Channels Television’s COVID-19 Pandemic Update.

According to him, the lack of trust has posed a serious challenge in the Federal Government’s efforts to effectively tackle the virus in the country.

“People are not coming out in sufficient numbers to get tested for all sorts of reasons. We are working very hard to bring the sample collection centres closer to the patients.

“70 per cent of Nigerians access their healthcare in the private sector, there is a reason for that. We need to work very hard and that is what we are working on, he said on Channels TV."

“We have to work together. It is not a question of blaming NCDC. It’s really thinking like a nurse, doctor or a leader of the state Ministry of Health that what can we do collectively to increase the level of confidence of the services that we provide,” he said.

On efforts to properly contain the pandemic in the country, the NCDC boss admitted that the “primary challenge is not in infrastructure.”

Ihekweazu called for an improvement in the nation’s healthcare delivery system in order to serve the people diligently.

He is confident that “we will have the biggest transformation in our laboratory capacity in Nigeria ever.”

Speaking further, Ihekweazu commended Lagos State Government for its efforts in increasing more testing of patients.

He explained that the state is the “biggest indicator of where we are. Lagos has consistently made efforts to test as many people as possible.”