Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has stated that Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is no longer a disease for the rich contrary to public perception.
Ehanire made the statement at the daily Press briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja on Wednesday. The Minister emphasized the role of Primary Health Care in containing the virus which has now spread to the grassroots.
“The role of primary healthcare is very important in this exercise in the sense that now we are in the community transmission phase.
“We have passed that era when people used to think that the coronavirus infection was something for big men and women who came from abroad. And because it came from abroad, they are the ones who would suffer for it. Now that it has gone to community level, it is really down at the grassroots and the role of the primary healthcare comes into play.
“It is very important for them to be able to do the surveillance, to raise the index of suspicion, to find persons who should go for treatment and sometimes to move around the community and be able to identify people who might have symptoms but have not gone to facility.”
Nigeria as at 11:40PM , April 23 has recorded 873 COVID-19 confirmed cases, 197 recoveries and 28 deaths.