President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians not to panic about the news of the first case of COVID-19 in the country while calling for vigilance from citizens.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Sunday, President Buhari warned against undue alarm, stressing that it will do more harm than good to the country.
The statement read in part: “President Muhammadu Buhari notes with sadness, the recent confirmation of a case of Covid-19 infection in Lagos, Nigeria. This was despite the ardent efforts of the government regarding preparedness and response measures put in place in our country’s borders and beyond.
“President Buhari urges Nigerians not to panic about the news of this first case of Covid-19 in our country, as undue alarm would do us more harm than good.”
He commended state governments and agencies at all levels for their response to the reported case.
“President Buhari, however, commends the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies whose diligence and efficiency enabled the case to be detected, diagnosed and isolated quickly, even while swift measures were taken to identify and follow up on those with whom the index patient came into contact.
“The President commends the responses of the Federal Ministry of Health and Governments of Lagos and Ogun States as well as other relevant agencies to the reported incident and calls for vigilance on the part of all citizens and responsible government agencies.”
President Buhari urged Nigerians to strictly observe the advisories disseminated by the Ministry of Health, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organisation (WHO), on the best way to prevent infection.
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