Afirca Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has warned that the country may experience another COVID-19 explosion.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a television programme in Abuja on Monday, Ihekweazu noted that if state government stop testing, the dreaded virus will keep spreading. He, however, urged state governors to keep ramping up testing.<\/p>\n
He said that if the implementation of safety COVID-19 protocols and measures are ignored, the country risks another explosion of the virus.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe data is what it is. We are having fewer cases reported than we had in April, May and the numbers are what they are. The states where we are most comfortable with are the states like Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kano and Borno. This is because they are testing a lot and not finding as many as they used to find.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few months ago, we used to have a test positivity ratio of up to 20 per cent to 25 per cent in Lagos \u2013 that is 20 per cent of all the samples we collected were positive. Now, that figure is down to five per cent. So, we are happy with the progress made in Lagos.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some other states, they are not testing enough, because they are not finding cases. It becomes impossible for us to say whether that is a reflection that there are really no cases or it is just a reflection that they are not testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been reaching out to states to let them know that the national curve that we show every day is really a reflection of several sub-national curves. Some states have reacted positively and have started testing more.<\/p>\n
\u201cA perfect example of that is Plateau State. Initially very slow, but now they have started testing more and have found more cases which is a good thing. Now, they know where they are. Many states, unfortunately, haven\u2019t learnt from that and are not testing and finding enough. I\u2019m worried that we might find an explosion in those states that will then affect the rest of the country again.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, the sample collection and mobilisation efforts within states have to be driven by states. Until they see the benefits of testing more in order to define for themselves where they are, we will be in this position of not having a full certainty of where we are in the trajectory of the outbreak in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAll of us are trying to avoid the lockdown not just in Nigeria but across the world. Countries are working very hard to find ways to avoid a lockdown because we have all seen what it can do to our economy. The impact of this outbreak on the Nigerian economy will be felt for years to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we have to try to avoid that scenario again. Avoiding that scenario means moving away from almost a government-led response to where everyone takes a little bit more responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we move towards reopening our schools, there will be increased opportunities for transmission because students will come together. We know that we\u2019re opening our air space, and have opened ourselves up to some increase in infection. Therefore, we carried out the very stringent mitigation measures \u2013 testing before and on arrival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second wave is not inevitable but we can avoid it. It can\u2019t be done by government lockdowns, but it can only be achieved in a sustainable way if we come together as a society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Afirca Press-Nigeria: The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has warned that the country may experience another COVID-19 explosion. Speaking during a television programme in Abuja on Monday, Ihekweazu noted that if state government stop testing, the dreaded virus will keep spreading. He, however, urged state governors to keep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":23001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1438,1437],"tags":[622,1425],"class_list":["post-30519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-coronavirus-in-nigeria","category-files","tag-fct","tag-ncdc"],"yoast_head":"\n