*NCDC Boss, Dr. Ihekweazu
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director-General (DG) of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has warned that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic might spread to the 36 states of the federation if Nigeria is not careful nothing that such negative development would overwhelm Nigeria given its deficient health facilities. If Nigerians continue in the nonchalant beheavour towards the provided protocols by health experts, the DG said the country may have to then prepare for the transmission of the virus to more states.
The NCDC DG, who was on Sunrise Daily, a live programme on Channels Television, yesterday, noted that though there were bound to be more cases, the goal was to build a more efficient public health infrastructure. He said, “We are responding to something, at the moment, across 22 states. But it will grow to almost every state in Nigeria. There is no reason it won’t. It is a respiratory virus. So, what we are trying to achieve right now, in the short term, is not to stop transmission because we know that will be very difficult to do. No country in the world has achieved that,” he said.
The NCDC also disclosed that so far, the agency has tested 7,000 persons since the epidemic erupted. He added that the NCDC would be issuing weekly totals every Friday to keep Nigerians updated on the progress made to test all suspected cases of COVID-19 infection and their contacts.
