FG has so far released N690million to fight coronavirus – Health Minister
The Honourable Minister of health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the Federal government has disbursed a total of N690million for the procurement of reagents, treatment of the infected, payment of staff, information gathering, contact tracing and other logistics associated with tackling coronavirus. He once again reassured Nigerians that the government is ready to fulfill its financial obligations as the fight against COVID-19 intensifies.
Dr Osagie Ehanire, disclosed this at a news conference on Friday in Abuja following the confirmed case of the virus in Lagos.
According to the minister, the Federal Government is well-prepared and working closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to contain the disease,
He revealed that the government has approved and disbursed all funds needed by the Port Health Services and the Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) which he described as the nation’s first and second lines of defence for coronavirus.
“The Federal government has released every amount of money that the NCDC and the Port Health Services requested,” Ehanire said.
The minister added that the Port Health Services has been paid over N70 million while the NCDC has received N620 million.
He also admitted that they used to have very little quantity of reagents to diagnose the virus, but they have improved the supply of the substances.
Nigerians woke up to the news of the confirmed case of coronavirus on Friday, involving an Italian citizen who arrived in the country for a brief business visit on Tuesday.
The patient was said to have fallen ill the next day and transferred to the Lagos State Biosecurity Facilities for isolation and testing.
So far, about 28 persons which the Italian had made contact with has been traced, identified and quarantined. More so, A factory in Ogun state, belonging to Lafarge Africa Plc, which the index case visited has been shut down pending when all possible contaminants are removed.
Source: CHANNELS
*Nigeria Shall Defeat Coronavirus*
