Second wave: Why you should adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols

Yahaya was shocked when his younger brother tested positive to COVID-19 recently. While he is happy his brother recovered and is back on his feet, he is still shocked with the number of cases and deaths being recorded daily across the country since last week. He had thought the disease was as good as gone […]

Yahaya was shocked when his younger brother tested positive to COVID-19 recently. While he is happy his brother recovered and is back on his feet, he is still shocked with the number of cases and deaths being recorded daily across the country since last week.

He had thought the disease was as good as gone in Nigeria.

“We have all let our guards down, so we can’t point out where my brother contracted the disease, whether in the neighborhood, at work or religious and social gatherings,” he said.

With the backdrop of increasing cases of COVID-19 across the country, experts have advised Nigerians to adhere to instituted safety protocols against the virus.

They said compliance to non-pharmaceutical measures such as hand washing, use of face masks and social distancing among others were important in protecting themselves against the virus.

Since the first week of November, the country has continued to witness a spike in cases compared to September and October.

Yesterday the country recorded 418 new confirmed cases and three deaths.

Last week Tuesday alone, Nigeria recorded 550 new cases across the country with Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recording 219 and 168 cases respectively.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), till date, 73,175 cases have been confirmed, 66,090 cases have been discharged and 1,197 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Medical experts attribute the increasing cases to the continued violation of preventive measures by the populace.

The noncompliance has continued even while countries in Europe and America experienced the second wave of the pandemic and warnings from experts and relevant health organisations.

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire had in the last week of October warned that Nigeria may experience a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak if the public continued with noncompliance to instituted health protocols.

He had said the second wave being experienced in Europe and America should give the country concern because of the high volume of human traffic from Nigeria to those continents, reopening of schools and serious disruptions in response caused by the #EndSARS protest.

”I fear that with the laxity displayed by our own population, our own second wave is eminent,” the minister had said.

State of compliance to COVID-19 safety protocols

Findings by our reporters also showed that a lot of people no longer observe the safety measures.

Members of the Christian and Islamic faiths say the observance of COVID-19 protocols have declined despite the government’s warnings about the second wave of infections.

The Pastor of Greatness Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Province 10, Abuja, Pastor Oyedele Adeleke said the compliance by members of the church is not as high as it was when the government reopened worship centres in June this year following three months of lockdown.

“It is individual choice now, unlike before when the church mandated it that everybody would do it,” he said.

Also, Imam Abdullahi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), High Court Mosque said the clergy have reservations about the way government officials are handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said there is more politics than science in it because people don’t understand how the government arrived at the alarm that the disease will increase rather than decrease.

“This is what they need to do so that the Imams or any other persons leading groups of people will make it clear to their members on what to do.

“But organizationally, there are several memos for the people to observe the protocols. There is a need to restore the confidence of the people, otherwise no way,” he said.

A member of at the Central Mosque, Karu, Ishaq Musa said it part of Islamic rules even before COVID-19 that everybody must wash their hands and face before stepping into the mosque, also known as ablution.

“Even the face mask is allowed if you wish. And we still maintain social distancing because some people believe the disease is real,” he said.

But a senior member of the mosque, Mohammed Abdulmalik, said members do not comply with the COVID-19 protocols as much as they did in the early part of the year.

“That time it was very hot. People were forced to conform. But now, it is no longer so,” he explained.

A Muslim resident, Abdullahi Shehu said he doesn’t believe that the disease still exists in the country.

Our reporter who visited some schools in the FCT observed that a number of schools complied with the protocols.

The adherence to the measures of handwashing, use of face mask, social distancing in the arrangement of seats both in classrooms and staff offices were observed in both private and public schools.

At Kayarda Government Secondary Schools, Kuje, no one was allowed into the school without having his or her facemask properly worn. The students adopted facemasks as part of their school uniforms.

There was a handwashing facility at the school gate and also in front of classrooms for students and pupils to use.

One of the staff who doesn’t want her name in the print said, “As you can see all the students including students are compliant with all the measures. In fact, it has become part of us.”

At the entrance of one of the private primary schools in Kuje, pupils wore their faces shield, their temperature was taken and hands sanitised before they entered the school.

At Garki Junior Secondary School, Area 10, Abuja, hand washing facilities were also seen at designated points where everyone could easily practise hand washing.

A security man, Mr. James said, the school has done all its best to put the necessary things in place and that everyone was complying with them.

However, the story was not the same in markets, motor parks and religious and social gathering visited. Many people were seen without masks, stayed closely together and did not wash their hands nor used hand sanitisers.

Expert views

A renowned virologist and the immediate past president, Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Oyewale Tomori said Nigeria probably did not reach the peak of the number of cases before fatigue, inconsistencies in testing, and general lack of attention to details began.

He said the country attained a fake flattening of cases “when the cases are there and people are dying, especially when “BIG” people are dying and you cannot hide it.”

He said, “So, we are seeing the cases popping up all over the place. The solution is to go back to the basics. The only solution is prevention through the use of face masks, hand washing and maintenance of social distance.”

Prof. Tomori said the way forward on the spike in cases is to continue with all the measures initially prescribed, adding that we must use what has worked in other parts of the world to prevent the occurrence.

“Let us all still avoid a place of mass gathering as it was done during the earlier time of the outbreak,” he said.

An infectious diseases specialist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof Bayo Onajole said a lot of tests are being done for those returning from outside Nigeria and may give an apparent increase of people who are already infected and may quickly recover.

He said the fact that people in the country have been experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of the virus, which does not require hospitalisation has made many people not to be serious about the disease.

Prof Onajole, who is also an epidemiologist said most of the isolation centres are already being closed down, adding “We cannot afford to go back to the period where there was a complete lockdown. What we can do is silo lockdown. To do this, the government should identify areas where there are new cases and do a closedown of that place rather than a complete lockdown. That is what is being done in other parts of the world.”

A medical expert and former Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Oyo State, Dr. Akin Sodipo said cases are increasing because people believe the virus is gone forever.

He said many people, especially traders in major markets do not observe social distancing. He suggested that Nigerians should ensure they return to the drawing board to avoid another lockdown.