COVID-19: FG Reveals List Of States To Be Used For WHO Drug Trials

The Federal Government has listed Lagos, FCT, Ogun, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kano states to be enrolled on the World Health Organisation (WHO) treatment regimen on solidarity drug trials.

This was revealed on Monday by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire in Abuja, at the 29th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.

Daily Trust reports that the WHO announced that Nigeria expressed interest to be part of the global solidarity drug trial to tackle COVID-19 pandemic and that the process would soon start in the country. The Officer in charge, WHO Nigeria and member of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Fiona Braka, told Daily Trust in an exclusive interview in Abuja that what Nigeria signed up for was drug trial and not vaccine trial, as there was yet no vaccine for the COVID-19.

According to her, the four drugs that will be monitored in the solidarity trial are Remdesivir; Chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine; Lopinavir, and Ritonavir. However, Ehanire said at the briefing that the Federal Government is cooperating with the WHO on treatment regimen Solidarity trial with the aforementioned states. He also said that as at Sunday the country has ramped up testing by additional 1,127 to make a total of 27,078 tests, which yielded 4,399 cases in 35 States, with a gender ratio of 70 to 30 percent for men and women.

The minister said 778 persons have been discharged and that the nation sadly recorded 143 deaths, giving a case fatality rate of three percent.

“The new cases breakdown are Lagos 81, Jigawa 35, Bornu 26, Kano 26, Bauchi 20, FCT 13, Edo 12, Sokoto 10, Zamfara seven, Kwara seven, Kebbi four, Gombe two, Taraba two, Ekiti two, Ogun two, Osun and Bayelsa one each.

“Kogi and Cross River states have not reported any cases, but we are optimistic that we can work with the State Health Ministry to validate this in due course, when we engage the state authorities. A team from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), made up of experts from various specialties, including NCDC, is on standby to proceed to Calabar (Cross River) as soon as travel arrangements can be made, taking with them, resource to support the health system,” Ehanire said.