The Federal Government has said it won’t rule out local herbs in the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development must first certify the efficacy of local herbs before they are used in treating COVID-19 patients.

Ehanire made the clarification during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja.

He explained that local herbs can be classified into those that can either cure COVID-19 or reduce the virus.

According to Ehanire: “Before now, it was said that Chloroquine can destroy the virus. But test are still going on in that regard.

“We have to test the efficacy of local drugs to see if it can kill the virus and also to find out that is in the process of killing the virus, it can affect the body. So, the Institute will carry out the required test on the local drugs find out how it can work”.

Ehanire had earlier disclosed that Remdesivir was being used to treat patients infected with COVID-19.