BREAKING NEWS...

NCDC activates Anambra State's Covid-19 Test Centre

Ikenna Aniagboso

Gov Willie Obiano has announced the activation of the Covid-19 test centre situated in the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku, Awka by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.

The long awaited approval was received on Saturday, July 4, 2020, after the state government received test kits and other relevant materials from the NCDC. The state was however cleared to commence testing Monday, July 6, 2020.

According to the state's Commissioner for Health, Dr Vincent Okpala, the mega PCR laboratory is equipped with five Abbot m2000 platforms - a sophisticated machine that has the ability to run 94 tests per cycle.

"When fully optimized, one can get five cycles done in 24hrs", the Commissioner declared. This will translate to 470 tests by a machine per day. If one were to dedicate the five machines to Covid-19 testing, one will hit 2,350 tests per day. This is the first time it will be used in the entire country for Covid-19 test", he said.

"The Abbot platform uses only kits manufactured by Abbot. The product was in high demand all over the world because of its efficacy and naturally, it became scarce. Logistics was also a global problem occassioned by the pandemic", explained Dr Okpala.

Continuing, he said that the activation of the testing centre was delayed becuase of the special kits used by the machine; "but we embarked on training of personnel for testing and sample collection, believing that this day would come.

"So far, the lab personnel have shown a lot of professionalism and we are proud of the progress we have made since we launched this war against Covid-19. We will no longer need to take samples to Irua and wait for days for confirmation.

"We are grateful to Gov Obiano for supporting us every inch of the way. His commitment to the fight against Covid-19 is commendable. We are also grateful to NCDC, FHI360, Global Fund, WHO and all those who worked assiduously to make this a reality".

The activation of the COOUTH test centre by the NCDC will definitely douse concerns over testing in Anambra state. It will also aid the fight against Covid-19 as confirmation of test results will take lesser time as more people get tested locally.