The Nigerian federal government has announced its intention to use hotels and schools in the country as isolation centres as the country faces a shortage of bed spaces due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
The minister of health, Dr Ehanire Osagie made this known to newsmen during the briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19 in Abuja.
The minister disclosed that the COVID-19 patients were categorized on four different levels based on the severity of their symptoms from those in quarantine with zero to mild symptoms up to those that are in need of an intensive care unit in the isolation centre.
The Minister confirmed that the group of patients that feel makeup the majority of the 254 deaths in the country are those with underlying illnesses ranging from hypertension to diabetes and non-communicable diseases.
He also stressed the need of increased bed capacity in isolation centres in order to match the amount of cases it is currently recording in order not to overwhelm the system like has been in some countries in Europe.
“In event of overflow, we can require hotels and school dormitories to be prepared for level 1 which is quarantine, and level 2, is the isolation of COVID-19 positive with zero or mild symptoms, to free hospital beds to be dedicated to level 3 which are moderate to severe cases and level 4 which is for the high dependency and the intensive care unit.
“I, therefore, call on activists and philanthropists to work with state governments to scale up non-pharmaceutical measures and beef up infrastructural assets for isolation and treatment in their states.”