Nigeria: ECOWAS donates medical equipment to Nigeria for COVID-19 fight

West African regional grouping ECOWAS has said that it had donated medical equipment to Nigeria on July 11 to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news report by Macau Business.

"The ECOWAS Commission, through the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) has handed over essential medical equipment to the government of Nigeria as part of the regional response strategy to the COVID-19 pandemic, " the 15-member bloc said in a statement.

The Economic Community of West African States has said that the donation was aimed at managing and curtailing the spread of the deadly virus.

It said the items included 12,800 goggles, 294,000 small, medium and large gloves, 23,220 small, medium and large gowns, 8,190 coverall, and 1,600 face shields.

"Other items also delivered were 12,000 masks, 10,000 surgical masks, 5,000 sanitizers, 40,512 diagnostic test kits and two each of ventilators and trolleys, " it said.

Nigeria, African most populous nation of 200 million people, is struggling to tame the virus because of its poor healthcare system.

The disease has so far infected nearly 32,000 and claimed over 700 lives in the country, according to the National Centre for Disease Control.

The Economic Community of West African States, also known as ECOWAS, is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa.