Some professional associations in the health sector have said Nigeria must step up its testing capacity to successfully battle the spread of COVID-19.

The groups, including the Nigerian Medical Association, the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, say it was not enough for the federal and state governments to impose lockdown on citizens without ensuring that those who had been infected with the virus were fished out and tested.

The group stated that a situation where only those who had symptoms of corona virus were being tested for the disease and leaving the healthy carriers would not solve the problem.

The group also called for the decentralization of the testing centers, adding that all federal teaching institutions in the country must be able to test people for the virus.