Easing lockdown offends Nigeria’s Covid-19 frontline experts

Easing lockdown – Nigeria’s decision to ease nationwide lockdown by Monday has sparked a row as Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) fear that coronavirus pandemic will spiral.

The National Medical Association (NMA) that has lost more than 11 doctors in the battle also kicked against the decision to unlock the economy and polity.

NCDC warned that coronavirus cases will continue to rise for the next few months even as the cases peaked at 2,388 with 85 deaths, a leap within a week by more than 150 per cent.

Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director General of NCDC, said the cases would likely increase if the people are allowed to mingle and given the increasing capacity to find and test more cases.

The nation lacks bed spaces and this added to more infections will worsen the frightening scenario.

“The easing of the lockdown should not be seen as going back to status quo,’’ as Nigeria may not be able to manage possible explosion, he said.

Dr Ihekweazu said that governments and Nigerians have roles to play in slowing the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic and protecting themselves, their families and communities.

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President Muhammadu Buhari who imposed a lockdown in Lagos and Ogun states as well as in Abuja, the epicentres of the pandemic for 28 days as 34 other states also did has declared easing of the lockdown due to public demand.

However, the relax of the lockdown came at a time that Kano, north west Nigeria with a population of more than 20 million, is recording its worse cases and with hundreds of mysterious deaths.

Reports say that more than 150 people, including prominent indigenes of Kano have died mysteriously in two weeks, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to launch a probe into unusual deaths.

President of the Association of NMA, Dr Francis Faduyile, described the unlocking as premature, as it will “figuratively tilt the epidemiological curve towards an upward spike’’.

Source – https://www.nation.co.ke/