The Presidential Task Force on the coronavirus pandemic has said that five states in the country are participating in COVID-19 drug trial being coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO)
Chairman of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapa, who revealed this during a briefing on Friday in Abuja, did not however name the states that will be used.
According to him, the five states in the drug trial at the end of which relevant health authorities will make statements on acceptable drugs for treating the infection.
On the use of local herbs to manage the disease, he assured that the PTF remains supportive of the development of a home cure for this disease.
He however, stressed the need for scientists to follow laid-down protocols, noting that that the NCDC has been mandated to publish some of the guidelines for public consumption.
He said: “As additional information, I am pleased to inform you that the WHO recently coordinated a recent virtual meeting from 70 traditional medicine experts from countries across Africa to re-emphasise the recognition of the potency of traditional cure.”
Mustapha pointed out that state governments had been encouraged to adapt national guidelines as suitable to their state but that such adaptation should be informed by empirical evidence of progress made.
He admonished that states lifting restrictions must consider the consequences of their actions and the impact on the effort to contain the disease spread.
The SGF started: “The PTF, therefore, urges states that are lifting restrictions which allows for large congregation of people to weigh their consequences in relation to creating opportunities for more seeding of the virus thereby negating gains already made.”
On Kano state, he noted the media reports about an extrapolated level of prevalence of virus based on the number of some foreign nationals that have been evacuated from Nigeria.
“The PTF team of experts are still on ground in Kano and are working round the clock alongside the teams from the State based on scientific and statistical analysis. I urge members of the public to remain vigilant and seek authoritative information from the public health authorities at all times,” he declared.
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