The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, says the Federal Government has explained that the prices of preventive kits will drop when traders import more of the products stressing that the Federal Government might not be able to regulate the prices of the commodities.

Ehanire stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he spoke about the current administration’s response in containing the further spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the country.

According to him, “The government is concerned about prices of face masks, sanitisers going up. But you see, we operate a market economy. Those who are traders and suppliers are doing a brisk business by trying to increase importation and those who manufacture are also doing a brisk business scaling up the manufacturing of all these products”.

“So it is not surprising that the prices go up at the moment. The government makes sure that those agencies and organisations that need to have these materials have them,” he said.

Dr Ehanire, when asked about the identity of the 44-year-old Italian patient diagnosed with COVID-19 in the country, said it is against the medical ethics to engage in such.