FG’s goal is to flatten Covid-19 curve – PTF

LEAD

.Seeks understanding and cooperation of all Nigerians

.Lagos NMA warns against use of private hospitals for treatment of COVID-19 patients

The Chairman, Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, has said that the Federal Government’s goal is to ultimately “flatten the curve” of virus in the country.

Mustapha said this at the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 news briefing on Friday in Abuja.

He said that to achieve this, the government needs the full understanding and cooperation of all Nigerians.

He said that the PTF has received feedback from Nigerians on the challenges of the lockdown, and the PTF was doing its best to ensure that the palliatives reach all deserving persons with ease in the country.

He assured Nigerians that arrangements were also in top gear to expand the palliatives.

The SGF also said that the Federal Government has developed a Protocol on points of entry, to guide the process of return/evacuation of Nigerians stranded abroad.

He said that details would be unveiled subsequently.

Mustapha used the occasion to warn Nigerians against spreading fake news.

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Also speaking, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, said that the recent marked increase in number of confirmed cases in the country was traceable to the scaled-up implementation of its new case-finding strategy, as well as a result of rising community transmission.

Ehanire urged Nigerians who have fever or respiratory symptoms of unknown/unclear origin to immediately use a mask, isolate themselves from friends and family, and call the National Emergency Number 112.

The Minister said that Nigerians were obliged to disclose their records to health personnel.

He said that Nigerians should disregard rumours and sensationalism.

“Stop spreading fake news. Observe all hygiene rules and take all necessary precautions,” he said.

The Minister, however said that all equipment the government received as donations were decontaminated before use.

“It’s a routine process for all donations,” he added.

In his contribution, the Director-General, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that one of the agency’s goals was to decentralise testing completely in the country.

Ihekweazu said that the agency has developed a new strategy to scale up access to COVID-19 testing in the country.

“It is now up on our website: covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/resource/guide.”

“So if you are interesting in supporting us on testing, check it out,” he said.

The DG said that it was not in the agency’s priority at the moment to accredit private laboratories, but they have started because they needed to scale capacity.

He said that the Africa Union (AU) has been a big supporter and enabler of the work in NCDC.

He noted that the first four Nigerians trained in COVID-19 testing were trained by the AU, through the Africa Centre for Disease Control.

The NCDC boss said that it was too early to discuss cause-and-effect or make any conclusions about Nigeria’s number of deaths and number of fatalities, or compare where the agency were with the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sanni Aliyu, Coordinator PTF, said it was important that as the farming season begins, farmers would be able to access their farms, farm products and fertilisers.

Aliyu said that Nigerians must fight the stigmatisation of COVID-19.

“We must not shun people we know who show signs of the virus. Instead, we must help them to contact the authorities and seek testing and treatment. Dignity is a right for everybody,” he advised.

He said that the PTF would continue to note increased inter-state movement that threatens to accelerate the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has warned Lagos State Government against accrediting private hospitals for the management of COVID-19 in the state.

Dr. Saliu Oseni and Dr. Ramon Moronkola, the Lagos State Chairman and Secretary of the association respectively, gave the warning on Friday in Lagos.

Oseni and Moronkola, in a joint statement, said that the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the private hospitals might likely be the missing link to the worsening community transmission currently occurring in the state.

According to them, the private hospitals do not have capacity for infection control and surveillance might be limited, thus exacerbating community transmission of COVID-19 infection.

“The association also noted with concern, a document from the Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), which, among other things, plan to accredit private hospitals for the management of COVID-19.

“We are concerned that the state government may have started yielding to the pressures from business concerns who may see this pandemic as a business opportunity, rather than the public health emergency that it is,” the NMA leaders said.

They urged the state government to rescind its position, via HEFAMAA, to use the private hospital sector to manage COVID-19 patients.

“It is still more prudent for any suspected case to be isolated in a holding area within the private hospital, while the appropriate government authority is contacted immediately.

“The association will resist any attempt at commercialising the management of this infection as seen in some private health facilities.

“We suggest that the government legislate and criminalise the act of resisting isolation by COVID-19 positive patients in public facilities, as this action has been implicated in jeopardising the efforts of containment.

“We appeal that the public isolation centres should be made conducive for all calibre of patients,” the association chairman and secretary said.

They appealed to the state government to continue to expand the capacity of the isolation centres with the aim to strategically locate them fairly in different parts of the state.

The NMA leaders also urged the government to increase the capacity of the holding areas where suspected symptomatic patients could be kept while awaiting test result for proper supervision.

The association maintained that the introduction of house-to-house testing was a positive development, especially as the state had entered the phase of community transmission.

“Though, there is continued concern about the capacity and readiness of the government to speedily scale this up,” Oseni and Moronkola said.

They commended the state government for increasing the testing capacity for COVID-19, adding that it had helped identify more cases and potential contacts.