Buhari meets Ehanire, NCDC DG as Nigerians await decision on lockdown

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday received briefing from Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, and Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),  on the latest development on the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The president hosted the duo on the eve of the expiration of the lockdown extension in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja.

Buhari had locked down the two states and the nation’s capital on March 30, and he later extended the movement restriction by two weeks.

While some health workers have called for further extension of the lock down, some individuals and groups asked the president to lift it.

Addressing state house correspondents after the meeting, Ehanire said the president was briefed on the position of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

The minister said the PTF presented to the president its advice and recommendations on way forward as regard the ongoing fight against the spread of the deadly virus in the country.

“We also brought the overall summary apposition of the Presidential Task Force which as you know comprises of not only the health ministry but other ministries,” he said.

“We have aggregated the opinions that we have, weighing the health and the socio-economic factors and everything, to present our own opinion and recommendations to Mr President.”

Ehanire said the nation is winning the fight against the pandemic as all relevant health institutions had agreed to work together to achieve the desired goal of defeating the novel coronavirus.

“The fight is going on very well. As I said, all countries have continued with the struggle against Coronavirus, using the strategies that they have developed for their own countries,” he said.

“We have developed a strong strategy as we are working with other experts groups like the NCDC and relevant health organisations. So, we are also working with the states and the governors.’’

The minister, who also spoke on the strange deaths in Kano, said his ministry had been communicating with relevant agencies including the state government with a view to addressing the health problem.

On his part, Ihekweazu advised Nigerians against “wasting their meagre resources” on the procurement of what he described as uncertified rapid diagnostic test kits.

“We will continue to build up our testing strategies. At the moment 14 testing centres have been activated across the country. We want to bring the test closer to every state. Everybody is working very hard to solve this problem,” he said.

“I can see that some people are already procuring Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits. They don’t work as far as we know. So, I will really recommend that we all stick to the National Strategy, build on it, support its expansion and together we will get on top of the pandemic.”