The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says it expects the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country to keep rising.
NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who stated this on Monday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, was hopeful that Nigeria would be able to manage the situation and reverse the trend.
He said, “We have crossed the hundred mark and the reality is that there is a virus circulating in our midst and that is why Mr President came up yesterday to speak to Nigerians.
“In the short term, we do expect the numbers to keep rising but we also expect that we will be able to get on top of this and that is why some measures were needed and we met with Mr President.”
President Muhammadu Buhari addressed Nigerians over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Sunday, hours before the NCDC said the number of confirmed cases had risen to 111.
The President, in a broadcast, highlighted some of the measures put in place by the Federal Government to curtail the spread of the disease and mitigate its effect on the Nigerian economy.
He also ordered the restriction of movement in Lagos and Ogun States, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
For Ihekweazu, the President’s decision to restrict movement, especially Lagos and Abuja, was a tough one but necessary.
He also urged Nigerians to cooperate with the NCDC and others working hard to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
“He (Buhari) took a very hard decision to make the statement he made to institute the measures he did, you will see that this is really a call on Nigerians to come together and to support these measures,” the NCDC boss stated.
He added, “We know that these measures work, the challenge for us as a society are the side effects of these measures and which is why they were very difficult to make … it has not been an easy measure to carry out in Nigeria’s biggest (commercial) city and Abuja.
“From today, we will appeal to Nigerians to bear the few weeks of pain that will come. Stay at home as much as possible, unless you really really need to go out and let’s see whether we can get on top of this.
“At the moment, there is no vaccine, there are no treatments that work; so, our only hope in containing this outbreak is to prevent transmission from one individual to the other. The way we can do this is to stop contact with each other which is very difficult, and which is why those extra measures were needed.”
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