Civil servants and the general public without proof of vaccination and negative PCR tests are currently being prevented from accessing government buildings in Abuja.

The PUNCH had reported that the Boss Mustapha-led presidential steering committee on COVID-19 had announced in October that civil servants without proof of vaccination and negative PCR tests would not be allowed to access government buildings from December 1, 2021.

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria had however asked the Federal Government to extend till March next year, today’s deadline for the compulsory vaccination of civil servants, a move which the PSC had described as “impossible”.

Nigeria on Wednesday had also reported three cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease.

Punch

Recently, the Presidential task force on COVID -19 cautioned Nigerians against non-challant attitude to the covid-19 protocols, as fresh wave of the pandemic hits Europe.

Secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha explained that as the nation continues to open more sectors of the economy, the country may be vulnerable to a resurgence of the pandemic in the country.

Mr. Mustapha stated that although the country is no longer in the top five countries by cumulative deaths in Africa, but urged Nigerians to change their attitude of skepticism and nonchalant to the virus.

Federal Government said the country may record a surge in the number of positive cases, if response strategies of trace, test, isolate and treatment are not scaled up.

Government expressed concern over what it described as “huge COVID-19 increases in certain countries with Nigeria having high volume of human traffic.

For example, last week, Lagos state ministry of health confirmed one hundred and eighty one positive cases of coronavirus in a private boarding school in Lekki.

In the words of the Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Iheweazu, Nigeria can avoid the second wave of COVID-19 infection if all citizens collectively work towards containing the spread of the viral pandemic.

According to the NCDC DG, the second wave of COVID-19 infection is not inevitable; adding that averting it depends a lot on what is done by all Nigerians. 

As part of efforts to curtail the spread of the virus, Dr. Iheweazu noted that a digital surveillance tool has been activated in local government areas of the country, airports, points of entries and land borders to help improve the surveillance of COVID-19 and other diseases in the country.

He explained that samples would no longer be transferred from different parts of the country to a particular centre as all states now have their own laboratories.

The country presently has sixty-nine public health laboratories in the country, twenty-two expert laboratory and seventeen private sector laboratory, currently with the capacity to test for covid-19 in the country

To date, Nigeria has recorded over sixty thousand confirmed cases and over one thousand fatalities.

To flatten the curve of COVID-19 in the country, people should abide by the pandemic protocols, including using of face masks, hand sanitizers and practising social distancing.

There is the need for more public enlightenment campaigns to guide the people on how to stay safe and avoid the pandemic.

Restrictions and quarantine should be tightened and strictly enforced by the government while relevant health authorities should monitor and issue clarifications on misinformation regarding the disease.

Just as the government has its role to play, every citizen, groups and corporate bodies have a responsibility to ensure that the disease is contained to ensure the wellbeing of the people.

Fawzeeyah Kasheem