The Federal Government has appealed to Nigerians to adhere to proven guidelines on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to curb its spread in the country.
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, tmade the call at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) daily briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja, yesterday.
Ehanire said that it was very risky to treat COVID-19 patients in private hospitals or at home, advising affected persons to please contact the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its toll free lines.
The minister said that non-essential travels should be postponed, adding that testing is not enough if persons tested positive were not isolated and treated.
According to him, every sacrifice on the part of citizens will help in defeating COVID-19.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the PTF on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said that since the president‘s broadcast on March 29, the team had made significant strides.
Mustapha said that the PTF had been able to slow down the spread in order to avoid overwhelming the country’s fragile health system and had intensified case identification, testing and isolation.
The SGF also said that the team and other stakeholders had also intensified contact listing and isolation, adding that 92 per cent of all contacts have been identified.
He said the country had increased laboratories by 100 per cent and there was now 11 laboratories in the network with Lagos having 3; Abuja 2 and one each in Irrua (Edo); Ibadan UCH; Iree (Osun); Jos; Kano and Abakaliki.
He said the PTF had increased testing by 50 per cent to the current capacity of 1,500 tests per day, with over 6,000 tests done and would conclude procurement of a new high throughput testing by end of the month.
Mustapha said that the government had distributed Personal Protective Equipment to over 40,000 healthcare workers and there have been no stockouts.
He said that over 7,000 healthcare workers had been trained on infection prevention and control and had deployed NCDC teams to 19 states.
The SGF expressed optimism and confidence that the PTF would deliver more and had been assessing the impact of the lockdown and the level of compliance by Nigerians.
“While we recognise the difficulties associated with such an unprecedented action, we remain certain however that it is a step in the right direction for us to secure a healthier tomorrow.