Buhari may address Nigerians again as Ehanire says Nigeria winning fight against COVID-19
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday received briefing from Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, and Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, on the latest development over Coronavirus and the reported strange disease in Kano.
This is as the expiration of the 14-day extension to COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states which was announced on April 13 comes to an end today.
There are possibilities that President Muhammadu Buhari will address Nigerians on the way to go as he was last night briefed by the Presidential Taskforce on Nigeria’s COVID19 situationat the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Ehanire, speaking to newsmen at the State House after the closed door meeting and briefing in Abuja, said they briefed the president on the activities and overall positions of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
The minister said the PTF presented to the president its advice and recommendations on way forward as regard the ongoing fight against the spread of the deadly virus in the country.
“We also brought the overall summary apposition of the Presidential Task Force which as you know comprises of not only the health ministry but other ministries.
“We have aggregated the opinions that we have, weighing the health and the socio-economic factors and everything, to present our own opinion and recommendations to Mr President,’’ he said.
Ehanire believed that the nation was winning the fight against the pandemic as all relevant health institutions had agreed to work together to achieve the desired goal of defeating the novel Coronavirus.
He said: “The fight is going on very well. As I said, all countries have continued with the struggle against Coronavirus, using the strategies that they have developed for their own countries.
“We have developed a strong strategy as we are working with other experts groups like the NCDC and relevant health organisations.
“So, we are also working with the states and the governors.’’
The minister, who also spoke on the reported Kano strange disease, said his ministry had been communicating with relevant agencies including Kano State Government with a view to addressing the health problem.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, who also spoke to the correspondents, advised Nigerians against wasting their meagre resources on the procurement of what he described as uncertified Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits.
He said: “We will continue to build up our testing strategies. At the moment 14 testing centres have been activated across the country.
“We want to bring the test closer to every state. Everybody is working very hard to solve this problem.
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“I can see that some people are already procuring Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits. They don’t work as far as we know.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday confirmed 91 new cases of COVID-19 outbreak in the country, bringing the total number of infections in Nigeria to 1,273.
The NCDC also said five new patients have been confirmed dead as a result of the virus in the country, bringing the total number of deaths to 40.
The centre said the 91 new infections were recorded in 15 states and the FCT, and these included Lagos (43), Sokoto (8), Taraba (6), Kaduna (5), Gombe (5) and FCT (3).
The others are Ondo (3), Edo (3), Oyo (3), Rivers (3), Bauchi (3) and Osun (2), with Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi and Kebbi recording one each.
According to the agency, Nigeria as at Sunday had recorded 994 Active Cases by 11:50 p.m, while 239 infected persons had been treated and discharged.
