Coronavirus: Chinese medical team arrives Nigeria

A Chinese medical team has arrived Nigeria to aid in efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The medical personnel arrived at  the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around 5pm on Wednesday.

They were received by a delegation of the federal government and officials of the Chinese embassy. The doctors and nurses numbering about 15 arrived with some medical supplies.

Osagie Enahire, minister of health, had said the doctors were coming with the donated supplies to support the country’s fight against COVID-19.

He had said the items include commodities such as personal protective equipment and ventilators.

“I have been notified of medical supplies from China, courtesy of a group of Chinese companies working here in Nigeria,” he had said.

“An 18-man team of Chinese medical experts including doctors, nurses and other medical advisers shall come along with the flight to assist us. I must at this juncture commend our frontline workers who are doing a great job in case identification and management.”

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had kicked against the plan of Chinese doctors coming to Nigeria, asking the federal government to rather empower Nigerian medical practitioners to perform better.

The government, however, said it could not reject the offer of China to assist Nigeria in such a trying period.

But the Nigerian doctors were assured that their Chinese counterparts would be subjected to the laws of the land and would not have access to patients being treated for coronavirus in the country.