COVID-19: FG to fine-tune palliatives for the poor, says Mustapha

The Federal Government says it is working on plans to fine-tune its Coronavirus palliatives for the poor, vulnerable, aged and others to make them more effective.
Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who is also the Presidential Task Force(PTF) Chairman, disclosed this at the daily briefing on COVID-19 Abuja.
“Early today, the PTF held a teleconference with Buhari to give him a well-rounded update on the National Response. The interaction was robust and rich in guidance,” he said.
Mustapha said that most Nigerians shall be reached very soon.
He said that the government will continue to pursue detection, testing, isolating, care and management of Coronavirus as its strategy.
He appealed to Nigerians to continue to obey the order to stay at home, maintain personal hygiene, avoid large gathering of people and report to health authorities whenever the symptoms were observed.
Dr Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, emphasised that facemasks must be used only in combination with hand washing, physical distancing, and good respiratory hygiene as well as sanitising surfaces but not as substitute for them.
Ehanire said that medical grade facemasks were best reserved for patients and health workers who needed them most, especially with the globally limited availability of PPE.
The minister encouraged Nigerians to make use of improvised or homemade washable facemasks or face coverings, which should be properly washed daily in warm water and dried or ironed.
He disclosed that the government received offer of technical support from United States Center for Disease Control (USCDC) adding that donation from the United Nation Agencies of supplies and equipment included 50 ventilators.
“This increases our inventory of essential equipment. The government of Nigeria thanks them and is grateful for such good friends and partners,” he said.
He commended Nigerians for their sacrifices and understanding as the government worked towards defeating COVID-19.
“The inconveniences were well worth it. With the present trend towards community transmission, the strategy of the Health Sector would be redrawn to address the specific challenges, and would emphasise increased screening, testing, and immediate isolation of confirmed cases,” he said.
Ehanire said that advisories on non-medical interventions must be maintained, which have been well publicised.
The minister, however called on Nigerians to continue to trust scientifically proven advisories and ignore fake news.
“We are not saying that private facilities should not but they have to be accredited to do it.
“The facility has to be inspected and certified as fit and the doctors qualified to handle that with protocols in place,” he said.
Ehanire warned against stigmatisation, “we don’t want people feeling that this is something so terrible that you should be ashamed of.
“The population should not drive stigma by wanting to know were those people live so that you can avoid the area.
“You should take your own measures and not contribute to using that as an excuse to create stigma.”
Dr Sani Aliyu, Cordinator PTF, said that Nigerians needed to be alive and well in order to be able to pray, if they were sick, they will not be able to pray and neither will they be able to pray if they were not alive.
” I send a message of hope to those who have been diagnosed with COVID19 in these dark times, they must not despair, they must keep hope alive at this time of difficulty.
“We must emerge stronger. We can only do so emerge stronger if we continue to work together,” he said.