A Study on Coronavirus and Nigerian Population; the Realities with Medical Laboratory Services

Abstract

Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged the health system of various countries with developed technologies and those with little or no technology in medical laboratory services, Nigeria for example. The quest to curb the pandemic is paramount and the inclusion of medical laboratory component is germane toward bringing COVID-19 to a halt. The medical laboratory services has improved from 5 to 78 centers between February, 2020 and April, 2021 which is commendable. This chapter explored the laboratory services in Nigeria in relationship with the population using 2016 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) population size and Nigeria center for disease control (NCDC) COVID-19 fact sheet of May 2, 2021. The analysis presents federal capital territory (FCT) Abuja as epicenter of COVID-19 and not Lagos as made popular by NCDC in consideration of population, number of testing and COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 cases in Nigeria may be skewed to the proximity of medical laboratory services. The reality shows that less than 1% of the current population of Nigeria at May 2021, has been tested for COVID-19. Therefore, it is suggestive to expand the medical laboratory services to all local government areas in Nigeria starting with Cross River, Jigawa, Kano and Kogi states that are still lagging behind in their number of testing.