COVID-19: 10% of positive cases in Nigeria are children – Minister

Minister of State, Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, says 10 per cent of positive  Coronavirus cases are children and adolescents, more than half of them in age bracket of 10-18 years.

Minister of State, Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora

The Minister of State, Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, says 10 per cent of positive  Coronavirus cases are children and adolescents with more than half of them in the age bracket of 10-18 years.

Mamora disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing, as the country prepares to reopen schools.

News Agency of Nigeria( NAN), reports that this was even as the PTF coordinator on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu explained that schools must put in all safety measures recommended by the PTF before they could  reopen.

Calling for caution, the minister said, “It is therefore pertinent at this point to renew the warning of the PTF on the reopening of schools so as not to expose our children to the risk of infections.”

On the current COVID-19 cases, he said,  ” the total number of positive cases recorded in Nigeria is 55,632 of a total of 433,206 samples tested.

“In the last 24 hours, we recorded 176 positive cases out of 2,494 samples tested.

“We continue to record low positivity rate even as the number of samples tested has increased, while this is a cheering development, it will be presumptuous to conclude that the disease is reducing.

“This is because as of today, not many states are testing. We shall therefore ensure that testing continues in all the states until we reach our daily targets,” Mamora said. 

The minister further called for synergy between state governments and medical workers in tackling COVID-19 pandemic.

He said,  “in my meeting with the Chief Medical Directors and medical directors of the Federal Teaching Hospitals and Medical and Specialist hospitals last week, I stressed the need for them to work in synergy with  state governments to ensure a coordinated response.

“The meeting also provided an opportunity for the medical directors to exchange notes and share experience.

“Important components on COVID-19 response such as laboratory testing, home based care, psychosocial implications of COVID-19, challenges associated with COVID-19 case management (Isolation & treatment) were discussed.

” A critical and important outcome of the meeting was the resolve of the medical directors to complement the efforts of the state governments in the fight against the pandemic.

“They also stressed the need for continued routine services in order not to erode the gains we have made in other areas of health.

“This was also underscored in my meeting with the Honourable Commissioners of Health on Tuesday, September 1, 2020.

“It is in this regard that a country wide deployment of community volunteers (CVs) to intensify contact tracing and active case finding must be supported by various partners,” he said.