Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has expressed worries over the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for health workers.
Sanwo-Olu speaking during a press conference on Sunday said the increase in the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the State will lead to a shortage of PPEs.
He was addressing concerns on the consequences of the shortage of medical supplies needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the importance of the PPEs for health workers handling COVID-19 patients can not be underestimated.
He said “Shortage of PPE for health workers is not a rumour. If there are no PPEs, there are no PPEs, and the truth about the matter is these are consumables. Even if you buy 10,000, as long as people are using them, as long as people are testing positive, and you’re having a lot more medical personnel on the line, you’ll run short of it.
“They’re one-off use; they’re not for repeated use just like masks. So, we’ll continue to buy.”
The Governor further begged suppliers not to increase prices of those essential items used by frontline workers rather than take advantage of the situation.
“A few of our suppliers need to know this is not the time to profit unnecessarily. These are things that when we started, we bought at N3,000, N4,000, now it’s N15,000, N20,000. Some people are unduly taking advantage of it.
“We are also looking to see if our local tailoring companies can be ingenious enough to also solve it,” he added.
As of Sunday, Lagos State recorded 1,123 cases of coronavirus.