The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday appealed to government and private hospitals not to neglect the treatment of patients with other ailments to prevent avoidable deaths.
The PTF said it had received reports about medical facilities and doctors turning back sick patients for fear of Covid-19 related-illness.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and PTF Chairman Boss Mustapha told reporters at the daily briefing that the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, would meet the management of tertiary health institutions in the country to address the matter.
He said: “The PTF has also received reports about medical facilities and doctors turning back sick patients for fear of their illnesses being COVID-19 related. The PTF appeals to these facilities especially public hospitals not to neglect treatment of other ailments because such actions have resulted in avioidable deaths.
“The Minister of Health will engage the management of our tertiary health institutions to address this.”
Mustapha said the PTF’s early monitoring of the measures rolled out, following the easing of lockdown yesterday, showed lack of compliance with social distancing and wearing of masks.
He lamented the chaotic scenes around banks and other financial institutions on the first day of the easing of lockdown.
He reiterated the danger of covid -19, warning that individual actions would contribute to the success or failure of the new measures.
Mustapha said: “Today marks the beginning of Mr. President’s directives to ease the lockdown in Lagos, Ogun States and the Federal Capital Territory and the introduction of new measures nationwide. The guidelines on the first phase of the new measures spanning 4th -17th may, 2020 have been published in eight newspapers.
”Awareness is also being created through broadcast on electronic medium, on line platforms as well as dissemination in local languages by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and other sources.
“We note particularly the chaotic scenes around the banks and other financial institutions. We must reiterate that the danger of infection is not over and that individual actions will contribute to the success or failure of our measures.
”We urge citizens to minimize the risk of getting infected while trying to transact in the banks. We similarly urge the banks to ensure that their ATMs and online banking systems are in good order and stocked regularly to avoid convergence of customers in their premises.
”The PTF fully understands the desire of Nigerians to come out to continue their lives after five weeks of lockdown. States governments and security agencies have however, been advised to enforce the measures rigidly and violators will be prosecuted.
Mustapha also spoke on the implementation of the ban on inter-state movement by Buhari, saying that the ban was imposed to limit the spread of the virus.
He said: “The PTF has also received reports on the level of compliance with the nationwide ban on inter-state movement. The objective of the ban is to slow down the spread of virus across state boundaries. The determination of government to enforce this policy is not in doubt and as we progress, we believe that proper alignment with the directives of Mr. President would be pursued.
”There has been very noticeable relocation of Almajiris from one state to another, up until yesterday. With the ban on interstate movement, the continuation of this exercise will not be in alignment with the guidelines issued. The PTF shall engage with the respective state governments on how to achieve their objectives.”
