COVID-19 has infected 812 health workers, says NCDC

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says 812 health workers have contracted COVID-19.

Speaking at the media briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19 on Tuesday, Ihekweazu said 29 of the infected health officials are of the NCDC.

“We have had 812 health workers infected. They are not just numbers. Twenty-nine of this work with NCDC. They are people I know. Eight of them right now are in Idu treatment centre. They are people and they matter,” he said.

“Crossing that 10,000 mark was quite a significant event. Every night we work to bring out those numbers, sometimes numbers begin to feel like what they are; you forget that there are people behind each number. So, it is very important for us to remember that these are people. At NCDC, we engage with these people every day.

“At the moment 75 per cent of people have unknown sources of their illness. It means community transmission is happening. This is normal of a respiratory virus which 80 per cent of people are asymptomatic.

“We now have the third-highest number of confirmed cases in the continent, after South Africa and Egypt. We’ve increased our testing capacity. We have now tested over 65,000 samples. 60 per cent of our cases are in 20 local government areas.”

He said over 65,000 samples have been tested, while 60 percent of the cases are in 20 local government areas of the country.

In April, Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, said 113 health workers have been infected with COVID-19.