Coronavirus: FG to convert hotels, schools to isolation centres
The Federal Government yesterday asked hotels and schools to get ready to be used for isolation centres for COVID-19 patients in the event of “overflow” of the hospitals.
Health Minister Osagie Ehanire said this in Abuja during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
“In event of overflow, we can require hotels and school dormitories to be prepared for level 1 (Quarantine) and level 2 isolation (of COVID-19 positive with zero or mild symptoms), to free hospital beds to be dedicated to level 3, (moderate to severe cases) and level 4, (high dependency and Intensive care unit),” Ehanire said.
He said there had been complaints of inadequate bed spaces, especially in Lagos which haD 4,012 patients, the highest in Nigeria.
“We’re not surprisingly worried about the increasing number of COVID-19 confirmed cases; first, because every life matters, but also because of the capacity of our health system to cope.
“Nigeria presently has over 112 treatment and isolation centres in the 35 states and FCT with over 5,000 beds, but not all States have made it up to at least 300 beds prescribed for isolation and treatment.
“We need to continue increasing bed capacity to match the probable number of patients so that we do not experience horrific scenes of bed space shortages seen in some European hospitals.”
On mortality rate, he said: “It’s too early for us to generalise about mortality rates, but people with preexisting conditions are more vulnerable and need to better protect themselves.”
The Director-General of the National Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu,
The Save the Children and the UNICEF yesterday said the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic could push about 86m more children into household poverty by the end of 2020 worldwide.
They said without urgent action to protect families from the financial hardships caused by the pandemic, the total number of children living below the national poverty line in lowand middle-income countries could reach 672m by year-end.
Save the Children and UNICEF said there were currently no valid rapid test kits for COVID-19 as Nigerians had started selling COVID-19 diagnostic test kits in “black markets”.
“There is a growing black market on rapid diagnostics test kits in Nigeria, we’ve to be careful in what we buy, how we use it and how we interpret the results that they provide.”
Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed said Nigeria was yet to receive the ventilators promised by American President, Donald Trump during his telephone conversation with President Muhammad Buhari on April 28. warned that the impact of the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic and related containment policies was twofold. “Immediate loss of income means families are less able to afford the basics, including food and water, less likely to access health care or education, and more at risk of child marriage, violence, exploitation and abuse.” Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, said the coronavirus pandemic had triggered an unprecedented socio-economic crisis draining resources for families all over the world.