COVID-19: PTF urges hospitals to accept patients with other ailments

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has appealed to hospitals across the country to stop rejecting patients suffering from other ailments.

Mr Boss Mustapha, the Chairman on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), made the call at the PTF news conference on Thursday in Abuja.

He stated that the PTF had continued to receive reports about hospitals rejecting patients which had resulted in needless death of patients suffering from other ailments.

According to him, we continue to plead with these hospitals not to reject patients but to follow the protocols for managing COVID-19 while receiving them.

He added that it was however imperative to seek necessary accreditation from the Ministry of Health and Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC) to manage COVID-19 cases.

Mustapha said the number of confirmed cases and fatalities released in the last few days had been on the high side, adding that this should be attributed to increased testing.

He added that it also confirmed the extent of the spread within the Nigerian communities, especially the 21 high burden local government areas identified as accounting for over 60 per cent of infections nationwide.

“Closely related to the high number of confirmed cases and fatalities at home are lessons drawn from other jurisdictions, from Europe to China to the United States of America,” he said.

He stated that the rising numbers and reported resurgence in some cases should also be of concern to the country.

According to him, of particular concern, however, is the case of Brazil which has exceeded the one million mark of confirmed cases.

“We had informed you that Brazil shares several cultural, demographic and climatic affinities with us.”

“If any lesson is to be learnt, Brazil should be a subject of interest that will make us change our behaviour,” he said.