Mr Boss Mustapha, Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, on Thursday said that the nation had received test kits and a PCR Machine from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), announced this at the PTF daily briefing in Abuja.
The SGF said that the country had continued to receive support from development partners and expressed appreciation for the gesture.
He stated that the equipment would go a long way in boosting the nation’s capacity to fight the pandemic.
The PTF boss advised Nigerians against self-medication, urging individuals to take responsibility as the nation goes into community engagement.
“Citizens should cooperate with agents of the state governments, local and community authorities and their leadership,” he counseled.
The SGF also said that PTF had received reports about citizens refusing to help with contact tracing as well as the need to go into isolation after testing positive.
He said that it was in the interest of everybody that contacts were traced to slow down the spread, adding that it was also in the nation’s interest to go into isolation facilities for close monitoring.
He said: “A number of fatalities have been recorded due to change in the condition of patients while staying outside the isolation facilities.
“Our appeal is that if agents of the state get in touch with you regarding testing, contact tracing activities, please cooperate.
“Also, let us be prepared to be quarantined and to monitor our health for onset of symptoms because it is important for us to break the chain of transmission and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in our dear country.”
Mustapha said that earlier in the week, the PTF raised the red flag and enumerated efforts to cut down the rate of infection among medical workers.
He said that the NCDC was stepping up training on infection, prevention and control to slow down that emerging situation.
“We need our health workers to be healthy and available. As always, we remain very proud of them all,” he added.
The SGF said that farmers involved in land preparation and planting of crops were exempted from some of the restrictions so as not to hurt the agricultural value chain.
“We want to guarantee a seamless flow of agricultural activities. It is important that we do everything possible to guarantee our food security by supporting our hardworking farmers to function.
“I, therefore, appeal to all the various task forces and security personnel at the sub-national levels to ensure easy passage of these inputs to our farmers,” he appealed. (NAN)
