The Federal Government on Monday said it was yet to commence coronavirus tests in 85 local government areas in 20 states of the country, about seven months after the index case was reported on February 27, 2020.
READ ALSO: Despite 99% awareness, Nigerians still ignorant of COVID-19 – NCDC
Boss Mustapha, chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, revealed this at the regular briefing in Abuja on Monday.
Mustapha said the 85 LGAs still remain with no testing done and therefore, no case reported from them so far.
“Five (5) states of the federation still account for 60 percent of cumulative cases; 689 out of 774 LGAs have reported a case; while 50 percent of all cases are in 20 LGAs,” Mustapha said.
The PTF said Nigeria, with 46,577 confirmed cases and 945 cumulative deaths, remains, respectively, the third and fourth highest in Africa based on these parameters.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last week extended the current protocols on ease of lockdown for the next four weeks.
Mustapha, who noted that Nigeria is yet to reach the peak of the pandemic, warned that the low test/case confirmation numbers coming out daily should not be misinterpreted to mean that the country has overcome.
“We have over time ramped up testing but more needs to be done to raise the quantum of test per million,” he said.
