The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire has on Thursday announced that 40 health workers have tested positive for the Coronavirus in the country. He made the announcement while giving updates during the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 media briefing in Abuja.
Dr. Ehanire urged health in the frontline of the pandemic to adequately use the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in order to protect them from getting infected.
"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," he 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," the minister added.
Also, Dr. Ehanire noted that 13 laboratories in the country had the capacity to test 1,500 samples daily, however, only 600 samples are being tested daily because the samples had to be collected and sent to the various labs.
He attributed the slow testing to surveillance sample collection and transportation of the samples.
Speaking, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha implored Nigerians to adhere to the safety guidelines as well as regulations emplaced to contain the spread of the virus.
