Coronavirus: FG Begs Elon Musk For 500 Ventilators

The federal government has asked the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk for 100 to 500 ventilators support to meet with emergencies as coronavirus continues to spread in the country.

The number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday, April 1, had hit 174, while the country is battling with squalid hospitals across the country.

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Musk had on Tuesday in a tweet said it was distributing free ventilators approved by the FDA to different countries within the company’s delivery region.

The government on Wednesday appealed to Musk, a billionaire U.S. tech expert, for support, through the verified handle of the Ministry of, Budget and National Planning.

According to the ministry, “Dear @elonmusk @Tesla Federal Government of Nigeria needs support with 100-500 ventilators to assist with #Covid19 cases arising every day in Nigeria.”

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Recall that the private sector coalition against OVID-19 had raised N 15.3 billion in the fight to fill the country’s infrastructural gap to contain the virus, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

A ventilator cost $5,000 (N1.8 million) to $50, 000 (N18 million), while a low-cost ventilator designed by Trilogy Evo Universal and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, HHS cost $3,280 (N1.181 million), according to report.

Nigeria’s health spending is at 5% of the budget in the past decade, a percentage bellow African Union recommendation of 15%, data by BudgiT, a civil-society group that tracks government expenditure shows.

Meanwhile the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had signed a National Health Act in 2015, which requires 1% of government revenue to be set aside for basic health care, but is yet to be implemented.

https://twitter.com/FinMinNigeria/status/1245477375313416192?s=20
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