Coronavirus: FG sets up diagnostic and treatment centres in Abuja, Lagos and Edo; acquires test reagents.
In preparation for the deadly coronavirus especially as a case has been confirmed in Egypt, the federal government has setup 5 diagnostic and treatment centres in Edo, Abuja, and Lagos.
This, among other things was disclosed by the Honorable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire on Friday.
“Facilities have been mounted at different airports to detect any passenger with high temperature for further testing, and we have set up five diagnostic labs in the country which have the capacity to test the virus in three centres of Abuja; Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); Lagos; NCDC and Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo.”
“We have enough reagents to test; the Chinese government have supplied 2,000 doses of reagents for Africa Centre for Disease Control so that any country in the continent can apply for it.”
The minister also said the Nigerian government and the Chinese government have shared vital information on the modalities of treatment and management of coronavirus now called COVID-19.
“China has also shared the protocol for treatment of the virus with us, since they have treated 4,000 cases, we asked them for the protocol and the ambassador brought it on Friday.
“We have sent it to NCDC and some hospitals where we have isolation centres; we have all these, and we will do all we can to make sure that Nigerians are safe.”
In addition, he said, the ministry had been working with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the agency had been supportive with information and diagnostic tools, among others.
Ehanire said that Nigeria was also in collaboration with health ministries in West Africa to strengthen its preparedness and action plan.
He finally disclosed that Nigeria has so far not recorded any case of coronavirus as all Nigerians coming from China have tested negative and isolated.
China on Friday reported 121 more deaths from the coronavirus, 116 of which from Hubei Province alone, bringing the total number of deaths across that country to 1,380.
The latest toll reflected the removal of some deaths that had been double counted in Hubei, the health commission said on Thursday. Chinese health officials had already reported 1,367 deaths.
More than 1,700 medical workers in China have been infected with the new coronavirus, and six have died, medical authorities have said.
The vast majority of the medical workers – 1,502 out of 1,716 – have fallen ill in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, said Zeng Yixin, Deputy Director of the National Health Commission.
It is the first time China is releasing an official count of infections among medical personnel during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Nation
