Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director General (DG) of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday said there “is a case definition for COVID-19” and only those with symptoms will be tested by the Centre.
The NCDC DG stated this while answering questions fielded by journalists during the Tuesday Presidential Task Force Briefing on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Abuja.
Dr Ihekweazu while advising against unnecessary agitation to get tested for the virus all because of “anxiety” said there are three criteria the NCDC usually consider to consider a case worthy of being tested for the coronavirus disease.
“We have a case definition for COVID-19, either respiratory symptoms plus travel; respiratory symptoms plus contact with a confirmed case; or respiratory symptoms of unknown explanation.
“These are the three groups of people we will be testing. Because the more people force themselves into being tested, the less we have the capacity to test people who are really in need of the test
“These people that really need it will be transmitting it to the community and more people will get infected.
“So there is a consequence not just for you as an individual but for the rest of the society”
Dr Ihekweazu also noted that the Centre has been testing about 500 suspected cases per day, “by the end of this week, we will be testing 1,000, by next week we plan to take it to about 1,500 per day.”
