Nigeria, like many other countries of the world, is experiencing the second wave of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. More and more people are getting infected by the day as the daily reports by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) show. As at 2.41pm yesterday, the NCDC Coronavirus Microsite showed that Nigeria recorded 1,964 new cases last Thursday, which brought the total number of confirmed cases to 116,655 out of which 21,544 were still active. The website also indicated that the virus has killed 1,485 people in the country so far while there have been 93,626 recoveries.
The surge in the number of confirmed cases has put government hospitals approved to treat COVID-19 patients and isolation centres under pressure. Such facilities are reportedly overwhelmed presently amid paucity of some essential medical equipment like oxygen. Just last Thursday, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, announced that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N6.45 billion for the setting up of gas plants in 38 locations nationwide in a bid to enhance the treatment of COVID-19 patients who need oxygen.