Nigeria is running out of isolation beds for COVID-19 patients

The director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, says Nigeria is running out of isolation beds to treat coronavirus positive patients.

While speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, 30 April 2020, Ihekweazu said Nigeria has only 3,500-bed spaces in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja available for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

He said he’s worried about the situation in Kano and the FCT but most especially about Lagos, which is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria with 931 cases recorded representing 53.9% of the country’s total of 1,728 cases as of Thursday night, 29th April 2020.

The latest data released by the NCCD shows that the Lagos number has climbed to 976 or 51.5% of the 1,932 cases as at night of 30th April 2020.

He says: “So, we’re going to work with them (Lagos) to keep trying to make more spaces available.

“Ultimately, we might have to change our strategy a little bit and start considering home care in certain circumstances where a patient can be managed sufficiently.

“We’re struggling at the moment. We might have to adapt our strategy because of the realities we face over the next few days.”

Currently, the country has recorded a total of 1,932 coronavirus infection cases as 204 new cases were discovered. Of these, 58 cases resulted in death while 315 patients have fully recovered and have been discharged from isolation facilities.