NATIONAL: FG urges health workers to be suspicious ‘at all times’ as 75 contracts Covid-19

*Says 5 samples of the UK variant found in Osun, 1 in Kwara

THE Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said health officials at the frontline of the war against the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic have been having a difficult time with the virus.

Ihekweazu said 75 health workers contracted the coronavirus last week, while the nation recorded 27 deaths from the disease in a single day.

He urged the health workers to maintain “a high index of suspicion at all times.”

Ihekweazu stated, “Last week, we recorded 27 deaths in a single day. Every death recorded is a tragic occurrence and our health workers are working extremely hard to prevent these.

“In the last one week, 75 healthcare workers were infected but we can reduce this risk. For healthcare workers, please maintain a high index of suspicion at all times. We need you alive and well,” the DG noted.

Ihekweazu revealed that the United Kingdom variant of the virus has been discovered in five samples from Osun State and one from Kwara State.

He noted, “In total, we have detected the B.1.1.7 variant in seven cases within Nigeria. This could imply community transmission of this variant of concern.”

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, disclosed that 43,732 new cases were identified in January, accounting for more than a third of all cases since the first confirmed case in Nigeria in February 2020.

He added that 297 deaths were recorded in January with a case fatality rate of 0.7 per cent against a cumulative case fatality rate of 1.2 per cent.