FG Mulls Closure of COVID-19 Isolation Centres

FG Mulls Closure of COVID-19 Isolation Centres

By Olawale Ajimotokan

The federal government has said it is considering the closure of some COVID-19 isolation centres in the country.

The Chairman Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha dropped the hint yesterday in Abuja at the briefing by the task force.

Mustapha premised the planned shutdown of some of the facilities on the fact that no confirmed cases were being reported from those places.

He added that the pandemic had refused to abate in spite of the substantial amounts of money that had been thrown into tackling it in the past seven months.

‘’So much investments running into trillions have been sunk into tackling coronavirus, not only in Nigeria, but all over the world, in the past seven months but the virus has refused to abate. We are also thinking of closing some bed facilities and certain isolation centres because there are no confirmed cases that are coming from those places,’’ Mustapha said.

He said the federal government has approved N1 million each for 34 states of the federation, except Lagos and Ogun towards the national response for COVID-19.

He, however, said the funds can only be assessed on the conditions set by the federal government.

The PTF Chairman, who assured that the task force will continue to work with partners from the private sectors, to finetune protocols for international travellers, especially those arriving the country, said the PTF met with the EU Ambassadors last Friday to discuss the ban on flights. He described the conversation as very robust with promises to deepen collaboration between the EU and Nigeria.

Also the PTF National Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu has also reiterated that COVID-19 tests are free across the country except for people who seek the test for the purpose of international travels .

Aliyu, who made the remarks at yesterday’s PTF briefing, said that public laboratories are not allowed to charge for tests at the moment while private laboratories can only charge for testing expect they are operating outside government arrangement.

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