92 percent of contacts tracing achieved; coronavirus spread slowed down - PTF

— As NCDC warns Nigerians against self-medication to avoid complications

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the COVID-19 pandemic, said 92 percent of contacts tracing has been achieved.

Mr Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), disclosed this during the daily media briefing by the task force on Monday, in Abuja.

He further stated that based on the evaluation of experts, assessment of available data and experiences of other nations currently in the same situation, the PTF has submitted its recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari and urged Nigerians to please await further pronouncements in this regard.

Mustapha, who is also the Chairman of the PTF, said the spread of the virus in the country has slowed down.

He assured Nigerians that the task force was already making headway on the fight against the pandemic, urging the public to continue to maintain calm, observing all the advisories and to continue showing understanding by respecting the measures instructed in containing the spread of the virus.

“Ladies and gentlemen, since the broadcast of the President on Sunday 29th March, 2020 the Presidential Task Force has, with your support accomplished the following objectives that underpinned the measure:

“Slow down the spread in order so as not to overwhelm our fragile health system; Intensified case identification, testing and isolation. Intensified contact listing and isolation-( 92% of all contacts have been identified).

“Increased laboratories by 100%- (Lagos -3; Abuja-2; Irua-1; Ibadan UCH-1; Iree-1; Jos-1; Kano-1; Abakaliki-1) there are now 11 laboratories in the network. Increased testing by 50%, to the current capacity of 1,500 tests per day, with over 6,000 tests done. Procurement concluded for new high throughput testing by end of the month.

“Distributed Personal Protective Equipment to over 40,000 healthcare workers – there have been no stockouts. Trained over 7,000 Healthcare workers on infection prevention and control. Deployed NCDC teams to 19 states. Visited Lagos to evaluate the readiness.

“Despite all of these, the PTF is convinced that we must deliver more. We have also been assessing the impact of the lockdown and the level of compliance by Nigerians.

“While we recognize the difficulties associated with such unprecedented action, we remain certain, however, that it is a step in the right direction for us to secure a healthier tomorrow.

“Based on the evaluation of experts, assessment of available data and experiences of other nations currently in the same situation, the PTF has submitted its recommendations to Mr. President and I urge Nigerians to please await further pronouncements in this regard.

“The PTF continues to appeal to all Nigerians to remain calm, maintain personal hygiene, observe physical distancing and stay at home”, he said.

In a related development, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has cautioned Nigerians against self-medication to avoid complications and death.

Nigeria has recorded 20 new cases of Coronavirus, taking the national total to 343, according to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.

Of the 20 new cases, Lagos has 13 of them, two each in Edo, Kano and Ogun while Ondo recorded one case.