At least 40 health workers have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria, the country’s health minister, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said Thursday.
Afriupdate reports that the health minister made this known during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.
He appealed to medical workers in the frontline of the COVID-19 fight to always protect themselves while giving treating patients.
“I applaud all our health workers in the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government will continue to provide you with the necessary protective equipment,” the minister said.
“I urge you all to take all the necessary precautions for your own safety, please do not try to treat patients without using adequate PPE.
“Frontline workers must undertake refresher courses training in IPC at intervals. This advice is necessary due to the number of health workers who have tested positive – they are over 40 now.”
Ehanire explained that the high number of cases reported recently was as a result of increased testing and community transmission.
The minister said though the testing centres had the capacity to test more than 1,000 samples daily, only about 600 people come in daily for testing.
According to him, there is a huge number of people who tested positive but have not developed any symptoms.
See also: ‘I Can Cure Coronavirus Patients In 3 Days’, Pastor Reveals (Watch Video)
Till date, 873 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Nigeria.
The country recorded 91 new infections on Wednesday, out of which 74 were confirmed in Lagos, the epicentre of the virus in Africa’s most populous nation.
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
