Nigeria’s health minister, Osagie Ehanire, on Monday said persons at risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus are among those reluctant to accept hospital admission.
“Findings from Supportive Supervision of treatment centres indicate that vulnerable and “at risk“ persons, are among those reluctant to accept hospital admission, especially if they have no severe symptoms,” Mr Ehanire said at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
Mr Ehanire said there are sufficient bed spaces at various isolation centres across the country to accommodate COVID-19 patients.
“The bed occupancy at our isolation and treatment centres is about 36 per cent, so there is sufficient bed space to comfortably accommodate patients,” he said.
He noted that health authorities are ready to redistribute from heavy burden to lower burden hospitals, if the need arises.
People older than 60 years or who have underlying health conditions like lung or heart disease, diabetes or conditions that affect their immune system are considered to be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.
Health experts have repeatedly warned those in this category to take extra precautions in order not to contract the virus.
Nigeria has so far recorded 152,074 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,839 fatalities.
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