Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, on Thursday said that within the next 70 hours, the PTF will conclude its assessment on the impact of the measures put in place.
Speaking in Abuja at the 37th joint national briefing of the task force, the SGF said further recommendations would be submitted to the president for a decision. “While we take necessary steps, the PTF would continue to appeal to Nigerians on the need for taking this fight with utmost diligence.
“It is for self, it is for your family and it is for the whole community. “On our part, we are sparing no effort in coordinating the national response, collaborating with all necessary stakeholders and supporting sub-national entities in their individual state responses, which we always maintain should be in synergy with the national response,” he said.
Rejection of patients in hospitals causing more deaths
The SGF also expressed sadness over the continuous refusal of health institutions in the country to treat patients for fear of the COVID-19. According to him, this has resulted in several unfortunate and avoidable fatalities.
He added that statistics have shown that there is a drastic drop in the percentage of attention being paid to other ailments not related to COVID-19.
“This situation is made worse by the fact that federal tertiary institutions have been mentioned among those rejecting patients for fear of COVID. “This is not acceptable. “We are saddened by this development. “Truth be told, we are having more deaths from non-attendance to other diseases than even COVID-19. “The reason for the greater emphasis on COVID-19 is because it is a pandemic and if not curtailed has a capacity of wiping out large segments of our population,” Mustapha said.
