The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, yesterday disclosed that the federal government was expecting another set of COVID-19 materials from China.
Speaking in Abuja during the media briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the minister said ventilators are expected to be included in the materials from China.
Ehanire said efforts were being made to add to the equipment at the isolation centres.
“You all remember that the US president promised Nigeria some ventilators. We also got a letter the other day that the government of China is sending us another load of materials for attending to COVID-19 among which I believe there will be ventilators. It is a matter of fitting them to our tertiary hospitals and federal medical centres,” Ehanire said at the briefing.
“The ventilators go with specialised manpower. You must have an intensive care specialist. We are escalating our training and doing crash courses. The number of persons who have required ventilators so far is very small. The fatalities that we have in Nigeria are largely connected with pre-existing diseases.
“The conditions must be met for private hospitals to handle COVID-19. They must be inspected, purpose-fit and also accredited. If they meet those conditions, yes private hospitals can handle COVID-19.”