COVID-19: FG reacts to recording alleging Nigeria plans to buy used protective gear
- The federal government has reacted to claims that it plans to purchase used protective gear from China
- Lai Mohammed refuted the news report which went viral in an audio-recorded message on social media
- The minister urged all Nigerians to disregard the viral audio message while describing it as inaccurate and irresponsible
The Nigerian government has finally reacted to the audio recording being circulated on social media, that Nigeria was looking to buy used protective gear from China.
Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, at a news conference in Abuja, described the report as fake. He also refuted the claim that Nigeria was waiting for money from the World Health Organisation (WHO) before taking drastic measures against the deadly virus.
The minister in reaction to the reports also said the claims that Nigeria had no money to tackle the disease because its foreign reserves had been exhausted and funds stolen were very inaccurate.
He went on to add that allegations that the figures of coronavirus cases were understated are also incorrect.
Mohammed described the fake report as an irresponsible job orchestrated by a charlatan, aimed at misinforming Nigerians in order to create panic.
Source: Facebook
The information minister further said the news being circulated on social media that each Nigerian would be paid N8,500 by the government to stay at home for one month starting from March 30, was also fake.
Mohammed urged Nigerians to seek genuine and up-to-date information on coronavirus on the website of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The minister while refuting the claim that the disease could not affect Africans or that the young were immune to it, also debunked the myth that chloroquine, garlic, onion, hot bath, are all a cure for the disease.
He described it as a farce and enjoined all Nigerians to shun such charlatans and disregard the audio. He urged the people to follow directives from relevant authorities.
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Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has been tested negative of the pandemic coronavirus. But the president's chief of staff, Abba Kyari, has been confirmed positive of coronavirus.
Kyari who returned from Germany on March 14, did not self isolate as NCDC directed and attended a meeting on containing the virus on Saturday, March 21, in Aso rock where he began to cough repeatedly and thereafter surrendered himself for testing. He has now gone into self-isolation for treatment.
In a related development, Nigeria has recorded the first coronavirus death after a 67-year-old man who returned home following medical treatment in the UK succumbed to the disease.
This was disclosed by the NCDC in a tweet on Monday, March 23. The deceased man reportedly has underlying medical conditions.
Specifically, he was suffering from multiple myeloma & diabetes. He was also undergoing chemotherapy.
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