By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
With the continued spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic despite the nearly one month of lockdown, health workers and other personnel in the frontline of the war against the deadly virus have decried lack of access to Personal Protective Equipments (PPE).
A top nurse at the National Hospital Abuja told Prompt News that PPEs are scarce commodities as medical personnel at the hospital lack the PPEs to perform their duties.
The nurse who pleaded anonymity revealed that she does not have the PPE hence she is not comfortable doing her job at the medical facility.
Although she said that she is not working at the hospital’s Isolation Center, she expressed fear that as somebody who works at the Emergence Trauma Department, she may be exposed to danger without having the PPE.
Also, a Medical Doctor in the private sector told Prompt News that the scarcity of PPEs is a concern to all the health workers, pointing out that they are necessary materials needed to do their jobs.
The Surgeon who also pleaded anonymity disclosed that he has since taken steps to avoid any ugly consequences by ensuring that all the nurses and doctors working with him are not exposed to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Prompt News can confirm that the scarcity of PPEs is not peculiar to Nigeria alone as many countries battling the novel Coronavirus pandemic are all facing acute shortage of PPEs including developed countries like the United States of America (USA), United kingdom, Italy and Spain.
The Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 Pandemic through the Ministry of Health and Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) have always made it clear that there are a global scarcity of PPEs as many countries including those where the manufacturing companies are domiciled are in need of PPEs too.
These equipments are essential to the people on the line of duty in the war against the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
