At least 20 Nigerian doctors have died from complications arising from coronavirus in the last one week, the chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), FCT, chapter Enema Amodu, has said.

Mr Amodu said this while speaking at a press briefing on Friday. He said the deceased health workers include consultants, professors and some resident doctors.

He said the figures keep increasing daily.

”For those of us in the health sector, we have lost quite a number of colleagues. Across the country, we have lost not less than 20 doctors in the last one week,” he said.

Healthcare workers are often at risk of exposure to infections, including COVID-19 as they are the first responders to patients.

Although health workers have been advised to use full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

before attending to patients, many do not have access to this equipment and as a result, over 1000 health workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nigeria.

As of June 2, at least 812 health workers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Nigerian health minister, Osagie Ehanire.

As of July, over 10 000 health workers in 40 Africa countries have been infected with COVID-19 virus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) disclosed.