We’ll develop more isolation centres if need arises, says health minister

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, says the country will build more isolation centres to contain the outbreak of coronavirus if the need arises. 

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Ehanire said the country is working at increasing the beds in the isolation centres in Lagos and Abuja.

“For covid 19, every country is scrambling to build isolation centres. China built its own in thousand-bed centre in 10 days. That’s them,” he said.

“Every country is scrambling for that and we are also doing our own part.

“We have our own strategies to increase beds and also to sometimes improvise if need be. There is a standard isolation centre going on in Gwagwadala.

“There is one already in Lagos, a very sound one, which was inherited from the ebola virus epidemic. They are very stable.

“There are other strategies we are immediately working upon to develop isolation centres if the need arises. we are seriously working on those ones including telling our teaching hospitals to immediately make wards available if the need arises.”

He said no country was prepared for the coronavirus outbreak, and that “all countries are really adapting and moving”.

Earlier in the month, Senate President Ahmad Lawan expressed disappointment that the country is yet to have a standard isolation centre in some geo-political zones.

During a visit to the isolation centre at the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Lawan said the country should be prepared for any outbreak.

“We are in an emergency, even if we don’t have people who are affected, we shouldn’t just rest on our oars,” he said.

“There’s no way that Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, with a population of 200 million, and yet the Federal Capital and six surrounding states of the North-Central, you don’t have one room that you can call an isolation centre, where anyone who unfortunately falls into this crisis will be taken to. This is not acceptable.”