By Joyce Asuquo
As Nigeria joins in the the global battle against the novel Coronavirus, Covid- 19 the Federal government in a proactive measure said it has acquired necessary gadgets to test suspected travellers coming into the country.
The designated laboratories are situated in Abuja, Lagos State, and Irrua in Edo State to test suspected cases.
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire disclosed this in Abuja, recently.
Ehanire said that the reagents were acquired days ago, adding that so far Nigeria has not witnessed an case of the viral disease.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization, WHO has declared Coronavirus a global health emergency and called on countries to increase surveillance and containment of the disease from spreading.
WHO Health Emergency Technical Officer, Dr. Dhamari Nadoo said in Abuja at a workshop to enlighten the media on CoVID- 19 urged countries in the African region to ensure a rapid detection and have laboratories which can test samples, adding that 20 countries in the region have diagnostic capacity.’’
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Zubairu Dada had assured the Chinese government to collaborate with it towards containment of the spread of the virus.
Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Dr. Zhou Pingjing said China has put in place comprehensive measures to tackle the spread of the virus.
He said that that Coronavirus is treatable, preventable and controllable.
