DICON, FRSC commence production of ventilators, face masks

– Groups caution the elderly against non-essential travels, others

The Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) has produced mechanical ventilators using locally sourced materials with a view to contributing to the fight against COVID-19.

Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, who disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja, said the ventilators were produced in an effort to provide local solutions to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Enenche said DICON has also supported medical workers by producing thousands of high-quality non-permeable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, adding that each unit of the kits consists of standardised gowns, face and nose masks.

“DICON engineers, consultants and medical teams have successfully produced a digital mechanical ventilator known as DICOVENT,” he said, adding that the newly designed machine was a simple mechanical ventilator that could deliver positive pressured ventilation using a volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) system.

Director-General of DICON, Major General Victor Okwudili Ezugwu, noted that the organisation was working to mass-produce the ventilators, saying, “The goal is to meet rising national demand for ventilators.”

Also, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has commenced production and distribution of customised face masks for its personnel across the country.

This development came in response to recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to procure and distribute face masks to their workers to help curb the spread of the virus.

Consequently, Corps Marshal, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, directed the corps to commence immediate production and distribution of face masks for its officers nationwide due to their role in the enforcement of the national restriction order.

A statement issued by the Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, noted that FRSC personnel always interface with different categories of people and as such deserve to adopt all precautionary measures, especially constant use of face masks while discharging their duties.

Meanwhile, the Alliance for Aging Research (Alliance) and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) have urged elderly people and those with underlying medical conditions to avoid non-essential travels and crowded events to guide against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The groups hinted that the demographical data from coronavirus records showed that a greater percentage of mortality cases were the elderly or people with underlying medical conditions.

They added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had advised the high-risk groups to avoid crowds, non-essential travels and cruise ships, while urging family members and caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease to take proactive measures in protecting them against the disease.

President and CEO of The Alliance, Susan Peschin said, “With COVID-19, we all need to examine our responsibility to each other, as we think about how to govern our behaviour. We can’t think of this epidemic solely in terms of our risk.

Also, Chairman of NFID, Dr. (Mrs.) Abisola Gabi-Williams, canvassed a purposeful effort at all levels and across board to stop the spread of the pandemic, stressing, “We must do all we can to fight coronavirus. It spreads easily among people and it is often invisible as not everyone infected with the disease shows instant symptoms.”