Pretoria - Nigerian health workers in Lagos State may be at risk of being infected with the coronavirus because of shortages of personal protective clothing and equipment at public hospitals.
Local Nigerian publication Today has reported that masks, infrared thermometers, sanitisers and protective coveralls are running short.
Various reports say, Lagos accounts for 32 of the country's 51 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Today reported that the government had confirmed the scarcity of clothing and equipment, but said efforts were being made to provide for as many health care workers as possible.
The publication said that at Lagos Island maternity and various general hospitals in Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos Island, Ikorodu, Gbagada, among others, protective tools were being rationed among workers.
An employee at Ifako general hospital told the publication that workers could no longer cope with the rationing of items as their health was also important.
It was said even the pharmacists in the hospital who have been tasked to produce sanitisers, do not have raw materials to do so.
The source said some health workers in the state have concluded plans to quit their job if the situation degenerates.
Shortage of medical gear is not unique to Nigeria. Hospital workers in the United States (US) in Washington, have been making protective medical gear out of office supplies and other run-of-the-mill materials as they deal with a severe shortage of equipment needed to care for patients who may have Covid-19.
Bloomberg says that the shortage of personal protective equipment at the Washington-based medical provider is a nationwide situation, as hospitals and doctors scramble to treat thousands of patients who may be infected with the new respiratory virus.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on industry and governments to increase manufacturing of surgical masks and protective gear by 40% to meet rising global demand.
The WHO has warned that severe and mounting disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment that is caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse, is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases.