THREAD #COVID_SSA TESTING If I read @NCDCgov's weekly report correctly, #Nigeria has just quadrupled its testing capacity. Weekly PCR tests increased from 40,709 to 70,408, but the addition of 75,290 antigen RDTs meant 145,698 tests in all, or >20,000 per day. 1/3 @AfricaCDC https://twitter.com/NCDCgov/status/1349816169717489666

Antigen RDTs (as recommended by @AfricaCDC) are the way to go for countries, like #Nigeria with limited PCR capacity & delays in the testing process. Even with this impressive surge they're just short of @WHO's recommended 1/1000 population tested weekly (143/million/day) 2/3>

Benefits are already apparent. More tests=More cases=More surveillance & intelligence to interrupt chains of transmission. New cases are up 75%, but test +ve proportion is down from 14.1% to 6.2%, close to where it needs to be . other countries are aware @WHOAFRO @AfricaCDC