President Buhari Tells States To Nominate Doctors, Nurses For Training

President Buhari Tells States To Nominate Doctors, Nurses For Training

State governments have been asked to nominate doctors and nurses in their states to be trained on how to treat and care for victims of COVID-19.

President Muhammadu Buhari made the announcement in his first national address on the disease, on Sunday evening.

He said nominated health workers will be trained on “tactical and operational response to the virus in case it spreads to other states”.

The training will be conducted by Nigeria’s disease control outfit, NCDC, and the Lagos State Government.

“This training will also include medical representatives from our armed forces, paramilitary and security and intelligence agencies,” the president noted.

Nigeria now has 111 cases of the disease while one person has died. A review of official data shows that the number of confirmed cases rose by 340 per cent in a week. Health minister Osagie Ehanire said on Tuesday that retired health workers could be reabsorbed in states if the spread escalates.

The president of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Francis Faduyile, however, said active health workers should be trained, equipped and utilised first as the treatment and handling of coronavirus is different from conventional treatments.

So far, Lagos and Abuja are the worst-hit by COVID-19, caused by a strain of coronavirus.

There are only a handful of cases in others states in Nigeria.

The president also announced the cessation of all movements in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11 p.m. on Monday.