COVID-19: We Don’t Have Enough Bed Space For Patients- NCDC

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)‘s Director-General, Chikwe Ihekweazu has said no state in the country has enough bed spaces for COVID-19 patients.

Ihekweazu, who spoke yesterday at the media briefing of the presidential task forc noted that only about 3,500 bed spaces are available for COVID-19 patients across the country.

According to him, the agency is tracing about 12000 people who had contacts with COVID-19 Patients.

“Yesterday, we tested 2,000 samples. That is the highest number of samples we have tested in a single day across the country and this number has been increasing every day,” he said.

He said despite the challenges in being faced in some parts of the country, samples are coming into our laboratory network. There is a lot of effort being made on health workers.

“From the information we have from the states, we have about 3,500 beds available right now. We push the states to make more beds available. We encourage every private sector partner if you want to support, do so in the state you are living. There is no state in Nigeria, even Lagos and FCT, that has fully fulfilled the bed capacity that they need to respond to this outbreak.

“Every day, there are new cases and with every new case, there are new contacts but we are following up on about 12,000 contacts across the country from the beginning of the outbreak.”

Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire, asked Nigerians to donate their buildings as isolation centres as the country.

Nigeria currently has a total number of 1,932 cases, 58 deaths, while 319 patients have been discharged