Covid-19: Minister Of Health Says 70% Of Cases Are Men

Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has said that 70 percent of people who tested positive for coronavirus are males.

Ehanire disclosed this on Wednesday at the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja.

He said: “About 70 percent of those who have tested positive are males. The age range is between 30 and 60 years. However, we must note that both men and women of all ages can be affected.

“As of today, the 1st of April 2020, we have recorded 151 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria. 82 are in Lagos, 28 in FCT, 8 in Oyo, 14 in Osun, 4 each in Ogun and Edo, 3 in Kaduna, 2 each in Bauchi, Ekiti and Enugu and 1 each in Benue, and Rivers States.

“Till date, nine (9) persons have been discharged and two deaths recorded from COVID-19 in Nigeria. These were cases with severe underlying illnesses aggravated by their COVID-19 infection.

“Between last week and this week, two new laboratories have been added to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) network of molecular laboratories for COVID-19. These are Virology Laboratory of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State and Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA), Ebonyi State.

“With this addition, we have increased our daily testing capacity from five hundred to one thousand. Hopefully, by next week, it is expected that this will be significantly increased.”

He added that there were no instant diagnostic tests for Coronavirus, adding that anyone out there was unreliable.

“It is important to emphasize that there are no Rapid Diagnostic Tests available that have been validated by the World Health Organization, (WHO), because they often give unreliable results.

“Unless you have been tested in one of the seven molecular laboratories for COVID-19 in Nigeria, your results are most likely useless,” Ehanire added.