The Director General (DG) of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the number of people presenting themselves for coronavirus tests in Lagos is beyond the depth of the agency.

Ihekweazu stated this on Tuesday during a Presidential Task Force Briefing on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Abuja while asking questions posed to him by newsmen.

The NCDC DG said the organisation on the average tests 500 persons symptomatic of the virus since the exercise commenced daily.

He added that in Lagos which is Nigeria’s epicentre of the pandemic the demand to be tested currently overwhelmed the available capacity adding that the situation would improve over time.

His word, “As at last week, we have the capacity to test about 500 people per day. By the end of this week, we will be testing 1,000, by next week we plan to take it to about 1,500 per day by increasing the number of laboratories that we have and also improving the throughput of these laboratories. We are managing and improving the supply side. At the same time, we need to reduce the demand side to those that really need it.

“In Lagos, there is a big problem with lots of anxiety and everybody wants to get tested,” he said.