The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC] has warned governors whose states are yet to record cases of coronavirus to be prepared as the disease will spread to almost all corners nationwide.
WuzupNigeria reportsthat there have been a total of 407 confirmed cases in Lagos, FCT, Osun, Kano, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, Katsina, Bauchi, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Delta, Ondo, Enugu, Ekiti, Rivers and Niger.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, who appeared on Sunrise Daily, a live programme of Channels Television, on Thursday morning, said though there are bound to be more cases, the goal is to build a more efficient public health infrastructure.
Ihekweazu said,
“What we are trying to achieve, and it’s very important for Nigerians to understand, is a landscape where we can continue our work in responding while we restart parts of the economy.
“We are responding to something, at the moment, across 22 states. But it will grow to almost every state in Nigeria. There is no reason it won’t. It is a respiratory virus.
“So, what we are trying to achieve now right now in the short term is not to stop transmission because we know that will be very difficult to do. No country in the world has achieved that.”
He explained that even China had seen a reintroduction and a “slight increasing” number of outbreaks.
“These are the efficiencies we are trying to achieve, so that, by the time this lockdown ends, we are in a much better position to restart our lives. But life will never be the same and Nigerians need to prepare for a different type of life once the lockdown (ends).
“We are not anticipating that in the next 10 days, we will get to zero (cases). We are anticipating that we will have a public health response that can work while, slowly, people start going about their small businesses.
“I don’t anticipate a situation where everything will be opened — schools, markets, airports — on the same day,” he added.
Ihekweazu predicted a gradual, carefully calibrated reopening of the economy, while urging Nigerians to prepare for a change in behaviour in conducting their everyday business.
“Some of the social distancing that we have introduced — every business now should be preparing and thinking, ‘How do I run my business differently?’ ‘How do I run my restaurant differently?’ ‘How do I organise my school and teaching differently in the context of COVID-19?’
“So, there will be a new COVID-19 era. It will not be the same as the pre-COVID-19 and I really encourage every small business and community to be thinking about this.
“At some point, Mr President will have to reopen the country slowly, and we have to keep trying to prevent transmission,” he added.
