Even as his country leads the world with over 1,012,535 confirmed Coronavirus cases as well as 58,303 deaths, United States President Donald Trump has promised to send some unspecified numbers of ventilators to support Nigeria in the fight to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
President Trump made the pledge to President Buhari in a phone call on Tuesday, a presidential aide Bashir Ahmad disclosed. “President Muhammadu Buhari had a phone conversation with the US President Donald Trump today, the two leaders discussed Nigeria’s efforts to defeat the COVID–19 Pandemic,” Ahmad tweeted.
The assurance came after Nigeria registered a record 195 new cases of the deadly Coronavirus, bringing to 1532 the total number of confirmed cases in the country. The number represents the highest so far recorded in a single day since the outbreak started in Nigeria February 27.
Announcing this grim milestone early Wednesday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Lagos recorded 80 new cases, Kano 38, Ogun and Bauchi 15 each, Borno 11, Gombe 10, Sokoto nine, Edo and Jigawa five each, Zamfara two, while Rivers, Enugu, Delta, Nasarawa and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) one each. NCDC said so far, 255 persons had been discharged while 44 had unfortunately lost their lives. Nigeria will begin a “phased and gradual” easing of more than four weeks of lockdowns in the national capital and the largest city on May 4, President Buhari said in an address on Monday.
President Trump and Buhari are among majority of world leaders whose countries are fighting against the spread of coronavirus which has infected over two million people globally. Nigeria currently has 1532 cases of the virus with 255 discharged after recovery and 44 deaths. The US, the epicenter of the global pandemic, has the highest death toll of over 58,000 and most confirmed cases of over one million coronavirus patients.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhadji Lai Mohammed, revealed some details about the conservation between the two leaders on Tuesday while giving his remarks during the media briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja. Mohammed said the telephone conversation which was centered on Nigeria’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was at the request of President Trump. He said Trump also extended his best regards to the people of Nigeria.
“President Buhari used the opportunity to brief the American President on the steps that Nigeria is taking to contain the spread of the disease. For his part, President Trump, assured that the United States stands in solidarity with Nigeria in this difficult time and promised to send ventilators to support the country in its fight against the pandemic,” Mohammed said.
In another development, the Nigerian Medical Association disclosed that a total number of 264 doctors have been exposed to COVID-19 situation. It said that out of this number, 20 actually contracted the virus, while two had recovered so far with three mortalities. In a statement issued Tuesday by the NMA president, Dr. Francis Faduyile, the association said the doctors were among the over 66 healthcare workers who had tested positive after their exposure.
“Information available to the Nigerian Medical Association reveals that a total number of 264 doctors have been exposed to COVID-19 situations out of which 20 actually contracted the infection, 2 have recovered so far with three mortalities. These are among the over 66 healthcare workers who have tested positive after their exposure and 4 who died.
“NMA acknowledges that contracting the virus from patients with the highly contagious COVID-19 is feasible even with the best of conditions due to the inevitability of close contacts with the sick. The Association however restates that the occurrence could be reduced with strict adherence to the global best practice of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) protocols. Availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) in adequate quality and quantity, amenities like running water, enabling environment in the health service space and spirit lifting motivation and incentives can mitigate hazardous environments, reduce drastically the incidence of nosocomial infections and engender,” it said.
