Chinese medical team in our care —CCECC 

The Managing Director of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria Limited, Mr. Michael Yigao, said on Monday that the 15 Chinese medical experts that arrived the country on April 8 are in the company’s care.

Yigao disclosed this in Abuja while reacting to questions from journalists and opposition parties on the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team.

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, had said last week that members of the Chinese medical team who came to the country to support the fight against COVID-19 were not his guests but those of CCECC.

Yigao, who confirmed the minister’s claim, said the medical team is in Nigeria to share their expertise with their Nigerian counterparts.

He said: “The team had a telecast meeting with the Minister of Health and some doctors around the country and shared their experience in China on how they are fighting the virus and the meeting was very positive.

“They are here with us and have continued to teach our staff how to protect themselves because protection and prevention are more important than the treatment.

“Most of the workers understand the situation now and they know the risk, so they follow the proper procedures and cooperate with their instructors.”

He said the medical experts would be heading home as soon as there was a commercial flight to China.

He added: “Right now, commercial flight to China is not open, but when flights are open again, we are considering the team going back to China.”

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He praised the Nigerian government on measures taken to check the spread of the virus.

“In a big country like Nigeria, it can be a bit difficult to control a pandemic because you will have to make all the people of such a large country understand that it is serious and real thing.

“I think Nigeria is taking this very seriously and you can see it in the implementation of the lockdown and the suspension of international flights.

“And like other companies in Nigeria, we will do whatever we can to help the country, like building treatment centres and training people on how to handle the virus”, the CCECC chief concluded.

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