The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed Nigeria and 12 other countries in Africa as high-risk countries for Coronavirus.
WHO in a statement said it identified the countries as top priority because they have direct links or a high volume of travel to China.
The other countries according to the statement are Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
The organisation however said it was important for countries to have laboratories which can test samples to ensure rapid detection of the novel coronavirus.
“It is critical that countries step up their readiness and in particular put in place effective screening mechanisms at airports and other major points of entry to ensure that the first cases are detected quickly,” added WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti.
“The quicker countries can detect cases, the faster they will be able to contain an outbreak and ensure the novel Coronavirus does not overwhelm health systems.”
WHO said it is supporting countries to improve their testing capacity, “Since this is a new virus, there are currently only two referral laboratories in the African region which have the reagents needed to conduct such tests.”
“However, reagent kits are being shipped to more than 20 other countries in the region, so diagnostic capacity is expected to increase over the coming days. Active screening at airports has been established in a majority of these countries and while they will be WHO first areas of focus, the organization will support all countries in the region in their preparation efforts,” the WHO said in a statement.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease had said that the country do not have laboratories with the capacity to test yet, but is working closely with WHO to get the reagents.
