Other Diseases Killing Nigerians More Than COVID-19: FG

 

Boss Mustapha
Boss Mustapha

The Federal Government says Nigerians are dying from other diseases more than COVID-19 because of the refusal of hospitals to treat patients of those ailments for fear of coronavirus.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha said this on Thursday at the briefing of the taskforce.

“This situation is made worse by the fact that federal tertiary institutions have been mentioned among those rejecting patients for fear of COVID. This is not acceptable. We’re saddened by this development.

“Truth be told, we’re having more deaths from non-attendance to other diseases than even COVID 19. The reason for the greater emphasis on COVID 19 is because it is a pandemic and if not curtailed has a capacity of wiping out large segments of our population,” he said.

Mustapha said Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health had directed all medical directors to continue providing regular medical services to avert avoidable deaths.

Read Also: COVID-19 Survivor Shares Experience, Says Virus Is Real

According to him, the guidelines for dealing with patients presenting coronavirus-like symptoms are available and if applied by medical service providers, there would be lesser risks of exposure to the virus.