NEWS

FG to reach 11m Nigerians with palliatives

By

on

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led government says 11 million Nigerians will get palliatives to alleviate the harsh effects of coronavirus.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, said this on Tuesday.

She spoke at the daily media briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.

Farouk disclosed that the government already had details of those considered vulnerable in 35 states.

She added that they belong to around 2.6 million households across Nigeria.

The minister assured that displaced persons the Northeast already received two months rations of relief materials.

Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chike Ihekweazu, said Nigeria would continue to develop capacity to test for COVID-19.

He stated that the agency now has the capacity to test up to 1,000 and hopes to test as many as 1,500 next week.