The Federal Government has said that the rising number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country were not unexpected in view of prevailing circumstances in certain states.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said this on Wednesday in Abuja, at the 26th joint national briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
According to him, the nation is clearly in community transmission phase, where much now depends on individual, collective behaviour and the urgency of behaviour change communication becomes apparent.
“Knowledge so far gathered about COVID-19 needs to be converted into practice, because our safety, now more than ever, depends on all of us,” Ehanire said.
He urged Nigerians to adhere to public health advisories by wearing face masks, observing social distancing, practicing hand washing or sanitizing, standard respiratory hygiene, avoiding crowded places and all manner of non-essential travel, as well as reporting when people feel unwell, or someone close has symptoms of infection.
He said, “If not, we expose ourselves and our loved ones to risk and inadvertently increase the period this virus will be with us and make life worse for all of us. For example, large crowds reported at certain events and the movement and repatriation of persons from one State to the other, do contribute to the problem and do not indicate a good understanding of the urgency of the situation. Therefore, I again appeal for considerate and responsible social adjustment to the challenges Nigeria faces.
“While we are striving to increase our testing capacity, we have noted the complaints about turn-around time to get the results of tests conducted. We are doing what we can to resolve them,” the minister said.
With regard to Kano, Ehanire said progress has been made in collaboration efforts with the State EOC to restore routine medical services to hospitals and further drive the ongoing investigations.
He added that organized ambulance service is already in operation bringing relief to citizens who need to access medical services, especially in view of restrictions of movement and also in emergency situations.
He also said the ministry is sending supporting teams to Sokoto and Katsina states for training and capacity building in case management and infection prevention and control in the hospital setting and that other states shall follow at short intervals, to assist the state ministries of health in their response to the COVID-19 threat.
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