The Head of the Department of Viorology, University of Ibadan, an NCDC dedicated testing-point for COVID-19, Professor Georgina Odaibo has confirmed that the assignment of testing Nigerians for coronavirus-statuses has started at her department.
She said the department will cater for samples from Oyo, Ogun and Kwara states as stipulated by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
Her words “COVID-19 means Corona virus disease discovered in 2019. I will tell you here that coronavirus is not new. In fact, 30 per cent of common cold is caused by this virus. Normally, viruses are known with the ability to change sequences. Those that are not harmful can become harmful when they mutate.
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“People who carry this novel coronavirus may not even be aware that is the scary part, symptoms might take longer time to manifest and they can transmit it to people.”
She submitted that the center has been in existence since 1974 when it was established under late Professor Tam David-West and has championed several major projects Nationally and Internationally.
She gave a recap of NCDC’s visit to the Department for inspection and approval of the Lab for samples from the designated regions.
“NCDC sent representatives last week to optimize our systems. You see, when the coronavirus pandemic started ravaging the world, the Federal Government concentrated only on Lagos and Abuja because of the presence of the International airports in these locations, but later, Ibadan was mentioned along with other towns in Nigeria where people can be tested for coronavirus.
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“Today, as I am talking to you, we have two machines that are in perfect working order – all that the NCDC did was to adapt the national protocol on our machines and train our staff. So, officially, we started receiving samples yesterday, April 1, 2020 from the three states I earlier mentioned”.
When asked about what it takes to be tested, Professor Odaibo said there are laid down rules.
“people cannot just walk in to be tested. They will have to go through their state’s epidemiologists. They must have shown signs of fever, difficulty in breathing and so on.
“One major reason why they must come through the state’s epidemiologist is because their details must be obtained for the purpose of contact tracing.
“It is from the state that the samples and specimens will be sent to us. And we take such through two stages before we confirm whether negative or positive.
“I must say that we do not have any right to announce results here. We are supposed to send our result to NCDC which will take the next step.”
While advising Nigerians, Professor Odaibo said “Our people are always doubtful. They did not believe in the existence of HIV when it was discovered too. I will use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to take the issue of coronavirus serious.
“They should take all precautions as dictated by different organs of government. The virus is not selective. It does not care whether you are a rich man or a poor man, once you contract it, you are on your own. The virus will take its full course – if your system develops immunity along the line, fine, if not, well…For now, there is no official treatment.”
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