The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has
said most of the COVID-19 cases that Nigeria is handling do not require
ventilators.
Ehanire made the submission on Monday at the
Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 inter–ministerial joint press
briefing in Abuja.
He clarified that only one of the coronavirus cases
in Nigeria requires a ventilator as against others who require just the oxygen.
According to him, though the federal government is
addressing the issue of the shortage of ventilators in the country, probably
less than four percent of the cases confronting the country require ventilator.
He also said the number of available ventilators
does not determine survival rate.
The minister also said ventilator shortage is not
peculiar to Nigeria, adding that there is no one country in the world,
including the United States, that has adequate ventilator.
He added that the Nigeria Centre of Disease Control
(NCDC) is prudent with the test kit while testing for suspected cases of
coronavirus.
The minister said the country would still need to
obtain the regent that is required for the testing from South Africa, as such
is not readily available in the country.
He said over 30,000 test kits are available in the
country but will require conversion from the machines in the testing centre.
According to him, “Importantly, there are no Rapid
Diagnostic Tests available that have been WHO validated because they often give
unreliable results. Unless you have been tested in one of the six molecular
laboratories for COVID-19 in Nigeria, your results are most likely useless.”
The minister also stated that in order to meet the
demand that would arise as a result of the expansion of the case definition,
the NCDC has added a new laboratory to its network of molecular laboratories
for COVID-19.
These
include the Virology Laboratory of University College Hospital, Ibadan, while
nationwide testing capacity will be expanded with the addition of seven more
labs in three weeks in Abakiliki, Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt and
Sokoto.
Ehanire also urged the members of the public to
note that testing is free and at no cost, warning that any one demanding to be
paid or given a tip should be immediately reported to the appropriate
authorities.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and
Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said trucks of relief materials
will be distributed to the three locked down states of Ogun, Lagos and Abuja by
the end of last night.
Also, the Chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, said
he could give a categorical time frame on when the pandemic will last, saying
with the determination of all Nigerians, the virus will be overcome.
Mustapha, who is the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation (SGF), said the federal government is doing everything to ensure
conformity of policies with state governments, and it is doing everything
within its powers to stop the case.
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