Buhari Approves N6.45bn For New Oxygen Plants For COVID Patients

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N6.45 billion for the setting up of gas plants in 38 locations nationwide.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, made this known on Thursday at the first National Economic Council meeting of the year.

According to the minister, the President approved the release of the funds for the production of oxygen, necessitated by the increased number of patients who need oxygen due to the surge in Covid-19 infections in the country.

Recall that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos had announced that the demand for oxygen at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba area of the state has risen from 70 to 350 cylinders per day.

The governor had said the upsurge of COVID-19 cases necessitated an increase in the amount of oxygen for moderate to severe cases of admission in all the isolation centres in Lagos.

He said to address the high demand for oxygen in Lagos, which is the epicenter of COVID in Nigeria, the government decentralised the availability of oxygen across the state through the provision of 10 oxygen and sampling kiosks.

“This strategy is to further increase the fighting chance of Lagos residents that have contracted the virus and require immediate oxygen therapy,” he had said.