According to The PUNCH, the leadership of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, on Friday, decried the rising cases of health workers testing positive for coronavirus in the country.

The President of the association, Mr Abdurafiu Adeniji, spoke in Abuja at a press conference to commemorate the 2020 International Nurses Week entitled, ‘Nurses: A Voice to Lead-Nursing the World to Health’.

He said data from the NANNM COVID-19 Situation Report Room revealed that “Almost 1,000 nurses and midwives have been exposed to coronavirus, out of which about 250 are currently on isolation and about 85 out of about 600 have tested positive.

“Over 2,000 Nigerian healthcare professionals, especially nurses and doctors have tested positive to COVID-19 while about 15 healthcare professionals have lost their lives.”

He attributed the rising cases of coronavirus infection among nurses and midwives to the lack of adequate knowledge on how to use Personal Protective Equipment while attending to infected patients.

He said the nation’s health care system had been overstretched and on the verge of being overwhelmed, while calling on health workers to pay attention to their personal safety while attending to COVID-19 patients.

“The WHO prescription is 40 nurses per 100,000 population, but Nigeria is operating five to six nurses to 100,000 population,” he added.

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