Lagos Spends Up To N1m Daily To Treat One COVID-19 Patient

Lagos State government has said it spends between N500,000 and N1 million daily to treat a COVID-19 patient

The health commissioner, Akin Abayomi, disclosed this during a press briefing on COVID-19 Infections in the state.

According to him, the money is used on patients in critical condition as the cost of managing a patient is dependent on whether it is mild, moderate or severe.

He said the state spends an average of N100,000 daily on patients with mild or moderate infections.

“To treat mild to moderate case patients in our isolation centre is somewhere in the region of N100,000 per day,” Abayomi said.
“That gives you an idea of the amount of money the government is spending on COVID-19 isolation facilities and COVID-19 care.

He added that factors that determine the cost of care for each patient include whether the patient needs ventilation, oxygen, dialysis, intravenous antibiotics and others.

“If you require high care or intensive care, that amount can go up to anything from N500,000 to even a million naira per day, depending on the complications of the case.

“Do you need ventilation, dialysis, intravenous antibiotics; every case is different, so it is difficult to calculate exactly how much a patient in high care or intensive care would cost. We are working on the rate and we would make it available when it’s ready.”

With 203 new cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday, the state now has a total of 14,009,confirmed cases.