The Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora, at the press conference, said the government would license private hospitals with the relevant capacity to treat COVID-19 patients.
He said this was necessary to improve the nation’s response to COVID-19 treatment.
He said,
“We are not just relying on public health institutions. We have started the process of accreditation for private hospitals where we are able to establish that they have the facilities for prevention, control and necessary personnel.
“We are engaging Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria and the Guild of Medical Directors.”
Mamora advised those who tested positive for COVID-19 to report to designated treatment centres for safe isolation.
This, he said, was because the danger of the disease was that those who did not have any symptom could infect others.
The minister appealed to health facilities not to reject patients without giving them advice on what to do on laid down guidelines by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
He stated,
“Additionally, all health facilities are reminded that coronavirus is an extremely dangerous pathogen which spreads very easily. It is not advisable to accept a person suspected of such infection for treatment if the facility is not accredited.”
On the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde’s claim of local remedies for the virus, Mamora said he was not aware of the claim.
He stated,
“We do know that since this COVID-19 outbreak came, I have got a lot of telephone calls from various people laying claims to having some remedies.
“We have in the Ministry of Health, the Department of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine. I referred those people to the department. In collaboration with the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development, a kind of assessment was done and there is a protocol for clinical trial.”
He said such claims must go through the protocol of clinical trial.
Mamora also advised Nigerians against giving false information on symptoms or their travel history to health workers.
