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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says it is desperately looking for more Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) extraction kits as it expands testing for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic. Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of NCDC, said this on Sunday on his verified twitter handle. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the extraction kit is part of the recommended diagnostic protocols published by WHO. However, the kits are currently in high demand across the world but in short supply. Iheakweazu stated that the product it was looking for was a Total viral RNA extraction kits “preferably spin column and with a lysis buffer” The DG said that the manufacturers should be; Qiagen, ThermoFischer, SeeGene, Inqaba, LifeRiver etc. He added that for anyone with the above product and manufacturer should reach the agency on; ncdclabnetwork@ncdc.gov.ng. It would be recalled that the NCDC announced the inclusion of two new laboratories in the national COVID-19 molecular laboratory network. The two are in Usman Danfodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State. NCDC said that the inclusion of the two new laboratories brings to 15, the number of laboratories with the capacity to test for COVID-19. It said that the country now had the capacity to do a minimum of 3000 tests daily. However, the critical challenge remains sample collection and transportation to the relevant laboratories. The NCDC says it is working closely with states to strengthen capacity for sample collection and transportation.

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