PUNCH reports that there were indications on Thursday that many states had stopped mass testing for COVID-19 despite the growing fear about the asymptomatic variant of the deadly virus.
Reacting, professor of virology, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, said it would be difficult to track the COVID-19 cases in the country when many of the states had failed to conduct tests.
This is as he lamented the failure of many states to report COVID-19 cases to the NCDC.
He said, “We were aware of the incompleteness of the NCDC daily reports, with only about 13 of 36 states testing or reporting. It is not just dangerous, it is irresponsible. If over 50 per cent of cases are asymptomatic and not reporting for test, then you know we have a major problem over the actual number of cases we have.
“The less we know, the more our ignorance about the true state of COVID-19 epidemiology and our inability to respond fully, actively, timely and responsibly. Data, though incomplete, show that between week 25 and week 30, the COVID-19 positivity for both inbound and outbound passengers doubled per week. The outbound figure tells about the rate of community spread, while the inbound figure is about importation of the disease. This may better provide the true situation of COVID-19 in Nigeria.”
