… CACOVID provides 100 cylinders per day till March ending
By Hassan Zaggi
The management of the COVID-19 patients has gotten a boost in Nigeria with President Muhammadu Buhari approving the establishment of one oxygen plant in each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This is even as the private sector coalition- CACOVIDhas commenced supporting the response with 100 oxygen cylinders per day till the end of March, 2021, for distribution to critical care centres in Abuja.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, Tuesday.
This is even asapproval has been given to rehabilitate five oxygen plants across various tertiary health institutions in Abuja.
In an effort to improve testing of COVID-19 across the country, Mustapha said that Nigeria now have 100 medical laboratories across the country.
According to him: “These are 71 public labs; 22 private labs and 7 corporate labs. Collectively, they are to help improve testing in the country.Regrettably, however, there is still very low testing in a number of states.”
While regretting the recent increase in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, the SGF said: “Yesterday January 4, 2021, we recorded 1,204 infections. This was the highest daily number ever recorded since we commenced the national response.
“From our analysis, we are beginning to see the effect of activities carried out during the Christmas festivities. We can only hope that numbers will not escalate beyond control. We however, still appeal to all citizens to take full responsibility through compliance and vigilance.
“As at date, the statistics for Nigeria shows cumulative cases to be 91,351; cumulative tests to be 958,911 and deaths have risen to 1,318
“Week 53 recorded 57 deaths which is the highest for any single week since we started.
“There is also a rising rate of infections among health care workers and this calls for the escalation of surveillance.
“In Africa, Nigeria has joined South Africa in reporting the highest daily infection cases.”
