Why Daily COVID-19 Testing is not Reported, NCDC Boss Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu Explains

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, has revealed why daily COVID-19 testing cannot be reported.
Speaking at the Presidential Task Force briefing on Tuesday, Ihekweazu says “it takes an enormous amount of effort to get that daily number of cases out to Nigerians every day.”
Ihekweazu also disclosed that it “takes a lot of effort to gather all data from every state in the country.
“The first step is what we have done. We committed to sharing that data weekly and as our data systems improve, we will work towards sharing it in real times as cases are confirmed.
“We’ve just started reporting it weekly. Remember there is hardly any indicator that is reported right now on a daily basis in Nigeria. Whether it is crime, aviation, education, petroleum products,” he added.
Meanwhile, the NCDC DG says community testing is not observed everywhere in the country. Ihekweazu also asserted that the agency has not gotten to the stage of doing community testing across the country.
The NCDC DG clarified that more testing are being carried out within “specific amounts of time” adding that tests are only intensified in “hot spot areas based on these identification.”
According to him, “we are targeting hot spot areas identified by states. We are not doing community testing everywhere. In certain states like Lagos, Kano, we’re taking the tests a lot closer to the community because of the intensity of transmission in those states,” he said.