Economic and Direct Medical Cost of Covid-19 in A Designated Isolation and Treatment Center In South Nigeria

Background: No disease outbreak in the last century has had a more catastrophic effect and put a halt on all sectors of life than COVID-19. It has taken a large toll on communities, nations, health systems, politics and socioeconomic systems. The medical cost of managing cases of this disease is unprecedented - no study had estimated the economic cost of the disease to the best of our knowledge in Nigeria. Objective: Hence, this study was set to determine the total (economic) cost, the average cost, the direct medical cost, and the capital cost associated with the management, prevention and control of COVID-19 in one of the isolation centres in Nigeria. Methods: The cost estimations were collected using the micro costing approach. A structured questionnaire was developed to extract the unit cost of each component and the total number of items consumed. The total cost of an item was computed by multiplying the unit cost by the total number of items consumed. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2016. Results: The economic cost and average cost used in the treatment and care of hospitalised cases of COVID-19 in the isolation center during the study period were $309,544:41 and $2,799:90 respectively, of which most of the monies were spent on remunerations and personnel protective equipment. Conclusion: The average cost of treatment and care of COVID-19 was huge as estimated in this study. Government efforts to cater for the health needs of victims have greatly eliminated the hardship on individuals.