By Sola Ogundipe

Director-General, WAHO All the 15 member countries of the West African Health Organisation, WAHO, have acquired the capacity to test for the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Disclosing this in Abuja,  the Director-General of the WAHO, Prof Stanley Okolo, who remarked that Nigeria was better prepared for the coronavirus than it was for Ebola, expressed confidence that the disease threat would be adequately tackled.

“All the 15 countries in the West Africa region, now have the capability to test for coronavirus.

They have just completed training of the laboratory experts and we have testing kits in all the countries.

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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, is one of the stars of national public health institutions in West Africa and Africa.

“We knew it was not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ we would have a case of coronavirus in Africa.

Although Nigeria tackled Ebola successfully, we are even in a better place today than when we tackled Ebola because in terms of surveillance, response and laboratory capacity, it is absolutely much better than we had in 2014. I am confident that they are employing all the processes required following the training for disease surveillance under the WHO.

“What we are doing is very robust. We know that up to 80 per cent of people might not have symptoms or have very mild symptoms such that they do not have a high fever that might be picked up, and they are not complaining of cough or shortness of breath or other severe upper respiratory symptoms even when they have coronavirus.

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Okolo said the concern is no more China alone but Italy and Iran as well because of the spike in a number of cases suffered in those countries, noting that they should be placed on high priority.

He said that from evidence, the countries where cases are now being transmitted between people should be treated as countries of high risk.

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