The Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, disclosed this at a briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday, January 11, 2020.

In his submission, Mamora revealed that the number of confirmed cases and the number of active cases have increased, correlating the latest data by the Nigerian Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) on Covid-19 infection rates collated for Monday, January 11, 2020. 

“As of today, we have 18,699 active cases on treatment both in health facilities and in community, using the treatment protocols.

“Today, Monday, 100,087 cases were confirmed while 80,030 cases had been discharged.

“In the last 24 hours, 1,024 new confirmed cases were recorded in 17 states, with eight deaths. “​The case fatality rate stands at 1.36 percent,” he revealed.

Mimosa, however, added that the government’s health facilities were experiencing severe difficulties in managing the enormous increase of cases.

“Many of the active cases may require care in one of the treatment or isolation centres, thus imposing an enormous burden on our facilities,” he said.

When queried on the demand for oxygen in isolation centres treating and managing severe cases of covid-19 patients, the health minister disclosed that the Federal Government had begun the process of repairs and reactivation of non-functional oxygen plants across the country.

“The plan of the Federal Government regarding activation of oxygen availability in the States is on course with a view to effecting immediate repairs of non-functional oxygen plants.”

He added that the government was also working to meet a target of testing two million residents within the shortest period adding that results from tests conducted on prospective National Youth Service Corps members confirmed that no part of the country was free of COVID-19.

“We safely and comfortably drew this conclusion because corps members are mobilised from all the states of the country for each of the orientation camps. 

“The report that many of those who died reported late for treatment at the approved centres because they were referred late from private facilities is alarming. 

“We therefore once again urge healthcare practitioners to promptly send all suspected cases for testing and, when positive, refer them to isolation centres for treatment. 

“Attempting to treat suspected or confirmed cases not only exposes the health workers in such a facility to risk of infection but also denies the patient early access to effective treatment in an approved treatment centre,” he said.