Lagos labs scramble for reagents as flight resumption surges demand for COVID-19 test

Medical laboratories in Lagos, Nigeria’s epicentre of COVID-19 spread, are scrambling for reagents (mixture/chemical for carrying out test) in an impromptu race to feed the demand surged by the

resumption of international flights.

The demand has spurred the expansion of sample collection capacity across the state and encouraged labs to take initiatives like logistics support for passengers worrying about bookings and turnaround time (TAT) of results.

Reagent is currently being sought in addition to clinical laboratory scientists for optimisation of operations. Some of the accredited labs such as Vcare Diagnostics have seen demand rise as much as 70 percent and are leveraging a TAT as short as 24 to 30 hours to drive influx.

The gap created by a long wait of 48 to 70 hours to obtain COVID-19 test result at chargefree government-run labs constitutes an advantage for the private sector players despite a N50,400 fee considered high by some Nigerians.

Unlike private centres, sample collection sites organised by the state at various local government areas have been greeted with low turnout, according to Businessday finding. At main Apapa, for instance, Kehinde Ososanya, the medical officer of health, Apapa Local Government, only saw eight people on Wednesday.

Whereas, Vcare Diagnostics now gives considerations to corporates interested in mass testing for their staff.

Reddington Zainelab has opened more sample collection centres mostly in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, and has eased the schedule for inbound passengers, even prior to their departure from Nigeria. Those who unexpectedly find they are positive also get treatment and case management services.

“The challenge has been good and keeps getting better by the day. Because of the increase in number, we have to scramble for reagent and make readjustments to our plans,” Vcare Diagnostics source informs Businessday.

“Because we did not anticipate the numbers that we eventually got, it has put some strain on us that we are getting burnt out,” according to the source. Before the opening of the international airspace, laboratories were basically testing groups of people including expatriates scheduled for evacuation or emergency travels.

But with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 stipulating that all travellers to Nigeria must be tested seven days after return and three days earlier for outbound travellers, the implications are pressure on the state’s capacity and bumper harvest for private labs.

There are now 10 private laboratories accredited for COVID-19 test in Lagos -including Synlab, 54 Gene, Medbury Medical, Clinalancet, Biologix Medicals, 02 Diagnostic, Vcare Diagnostics, Clinix Healthcare, Afriglobal Medicare, and Reddington Zaine Laboratories.

Businessday’s findings reveal that based on a daily passenger limit of 1,280 in Lagos and a N50,400 test fee per head, not less than N64.5 million will flow into the coffers of Lagos labs daily, N451.5 million weekly.

The PTF on COVID-19 had reduced the number of airlines operating daily at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, to seven in its bid to prevent a spike in infection likely to follow international travel. But as pleasant as the bubble seems, players are not lost in the euphoria of the present, as they expect a bubble burst will follow the discard of the PTF directive eventually.

“As long as the regulation stands that the test is required for travel, the surge will be sustained. But a massive dip will certainly come later,” the source at Vcare says.