President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday night received briefing from Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire and the Director-General of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Mr Chikwe Ihekweazu on the Coronavirus situation in the country, particularly the reported rising case of the disease in Kano.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the close-door meeting at the State House in Abuja, Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire said the briefing was on the activities of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
The briefing came barely 24 hours to the expiration of the 14-day extension of the lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states to control spread of the disease.
He said the Presidential Task Force presented to the president its advice and recommendations on way forward on the COVID-19 pandemic 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.
The minister said the nation was winning the fight against the pandemic as all the relevant health institutions had agreed to work together to achieve the desired goal of defeating the novel Coronavirus.
“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,” he said.
On the reported disease in Kano state, the minister said the Federal Ministry of Health had been communicating with relevant agencies including Kano State Government with a view to addressing the health problem.
Also speaking, the Director-General of NCDC, Mr Chikwe Ihekweazu, advised Nigerians procuring uncertified Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits.
“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.
“I can see that some people are already procuring Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits. They don’t work as far as we know. So, I will really recommend that we all stick to the National Strategy, build on it, support its expansion and together we will get on top of the pandemic,” he said.
