COVID-19: If you need a ventilator, you may not survive, says PTF coordinator

Sani Aliyu, national coordinator of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, says patients who need ventilators stand the risk of not surviving coronavirus.

While speaking at the PTF briefing on Wednesday, Aliyu highlighted the importance of prevention against the disease, especially for the elderly and other at high risk of contracting COVID-19.

“There is 20%-30% survival coming off a ventilator. So that is why it is important in the first instance not to even get COVID-19 because if one gets COVID and happens to fall within the risk groups in terms of the elderly or diabetic or cardiovascular disease, and you end up on a ventilator, you have a greater chance of not coming off the ventilator even in the best health system.

“And that is why people have been dying in Europe, in the United States etc. Most of the deaths have been linked to ventilators.

“We have very few ventilators in the country anyway. So, the 20% that we talked about that would require hospitalisation, are those that would require oxygen and about 25% of them, five would require ventilators.

“But you don’t really want to be in that group. And that’s why we keep on emphasizing on the prevention aspect. Prevention is better than cure and it particularly applies to COVID-19 infection.”

Nigeria has recorded 2,950 COVID-19 cases and 98 deaths.