By Ife Osemedua
As Nigerians brace up for a second wave of Coronavirus infections, the Federal Government has announced that all isolation and treatment centres should be on standby for reopening.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said on Thursday during a press conference of the Presidential Task Force on COVID – 19 in Abuja, that utmost care must be taken to contain the spread of the virus in order for it not to get out of control.
“We are seeing the increase in the number of confirmed COVID – 19 cases in the last few days. Last week, we recorded 1,843 against 1,235 we recorded two weeks before. In the past 24 hours, 474 new confirmed cases and two deaths were recorded.
“Everyone has a role to play in the effort to prevent explosive spread of this infection in Nigeria. We must prepare for a possible second wave which we must ensure, does not get to be worse than what we have seen so far, judging from what we observe in other countries,” he stated.
Ehanire said the rise in infections was due to increased community transmission and from travellers from abroad who accounted for 87 positive cases against 59 in the previous week.
The minister also disclosed that a technical working group led by the National Primary Health Development Agency was working on evaluation of prospective vaccines and Nigeria’s vaccine needs, with the first set of candidate vaccines ready to be rolled out in Europe and the USA.
“We are working with WHO and GAVI led COVAX facility and other stakeholders to ensure that Nigeria will access quality vaccines, when they are deployed.
“Until vaccines are available, our best bet is still the appropriate use of face masks, physical distancing, hand sanitisers and observance of respiratory hygiene, for prevention and control.”