New strain of COVID-19 in Nigeria possible
Health Minister, Ehanire has said that the government could not rule out the possibility of a new strain of COVID-19 in the country.
He said, “As for the strain of COVID-19, yes, when Nigerians were coming back in batches from different countries – the US, Saudi Arabia, Europe and China – the question did arise and some of them tested positive for COVID-19.
“The question did arise about whether the strain of COVID-19 they have is the same one that was known. The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development did a genome sequencing of the virus of the index case that came long ago; this is the first in Africa.
“It was confirmed to be the same strain as what was circulating in Italy and China. So, we raised the question whether there has been mutation since then in people coming from other areas
“I don’t have any information on that yet, but it is suspected that it is possible. It is not yet updated but I’m sure that research centres in Yaba, Lagos and the one in Ede, are trying to do a sequencing that will show us whether all these viruses are the same or whether they have a different sequencing.”
Ehanire also said the research centres working on the Madgascar herb had yet to get back to him on their findings.
The minister stated, “With regard to Madagascar’s herb, we do not have any information yet. We have given them to our research centres and they are working on them.
“None of them has reported back yet. The time it will take for all these researches is not what we know, but I think after a period, I will reach out to them to find out if they can give me an interim report.”
“Many states are taking responsibility. Many of the labs in some states such as Jigawa and Ekiti, are done by the state government to accelerate the efforts themselves. We will continue working hand-in-hand with all our State Governors to improve the response across the country.”
Domestic flights not yet cleared to begin June 21 – PTF
At the press conference, the PTF Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, said aviation industry had not been cleared to begin domestic flights on June 21 as being reported.
He said, “What we said to the aviation authorities is that he (the minister) would let us know from June 21 onwards, if they are ready to start opening the airspace. We didn’t say June 21, skies open.
“We gave him a window of three weeks to prepare. And I believe they are still preparing. You don’t ask them for regular updates in terms of how things are going. We expect them to come back to us, as you know that the aviation industry is highly regulated.
“There are certain things they have to do before flying, such as retraining of pilots recalibrating the aircraft and ensuring safety across the board.
“We don’t have an update for that (reopening of the skies for flights). We expect them to come back to us by June 21, and if they come back to us and say they are ready on June 21 onwards, we will open the sky for domestic flights. And that is when we will address the issue of interstate restrictions.”
Bed-space shortage: 80 per cent of COVID-19 patients being treated outside isolation facilities
Answering a question on bed-spaces availability for COVID-19 patients, Aliyu said 80 per cent of positive cases were being treated outside isolation centres.
He said, “I know that 80 per cent of those that are positive in the country are currently being managed outside isolation facilities.
“Some states have a lot of capacity in terms of bed. I know Kano and Lagos, they have run out of beds. A few other states are red.”
He added that there were states with “very few cases and a lot of isolation capacity”.
On harassment of journalists, Aliyu reiterated that essential workers including journalists should be allowed to move freely.
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