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COVID-19 shifted health workers’ attention from HIV, tuberculosis – Minister
The Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, said on Monday the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the attention of medical experts from HIV, tuberculosis and other ailments in the country.
Mamora, who stated this at the daily media briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, added that the virus had reduced the attention given to other diseases as everyone now focused on getting solutions to the pandemic.
He urged the health workers to forward all cases with COVID-19 symptoms to approved laboratory centres in order to avoid unnecessary deaths.
The minister said: “We therefore once again seize this opportunity to urge healthcare practitioners to promptly send all suspected COVID-19 cases for testing and when positive, refer them to isolation centres for treatment.
READ ALSO: 105 tested positive for HIV during COVID-19 lockdown in Ogun – Health commissioner
“Attempting to treat suspected or confirmed cases not only exposes the health workers in such a facility to risk of infection but also denies the patient early access to effective treatment in an approved treatment centre.”
Mamora also disclosed that the Federal Government’s plan to make oxygen available in the states was on course.
He noted that results from tests conducted on the prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members had confirmed that no part of the country was free of COVID-19.
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