MainJoe:


I earlier stated and will repeat. If the NCDC were serious, they will know that 7 labs will not do. The 8th they talked about I guess was the one partnered with StanbicIBTC. With more efforts, we would have had more labs to test at a faster rate.

Let us stop the whole talking of UK and US. South Africa is here and see how far they have gone to fight this, despite still facing challenges. Look at the magnitude of daily tests.

I refuse to buy the idea of praising the clear mediocrity going on in the NCDC.

We had enough time to prepare. We had enough time and money to isolate returnees. We can with serious focus test a far more number.

Are they not the ones giving Buhari the useless message of focusing on Lagos and Abuja when anyone with a little bit of reasoning will know that this virus spread like wildfire in a dry Bush.

Hammer to the President the need for rapid attention in all States to prevent a major outbreak in the country.

Making us believe that locking down is a solution instead of accepting they are lost in what to do except siphoning money.

MainJoe:


I am sorry but I can not commend gross incompetence. Because, the mismanagement of UK health system does not give any credence to gross ineptitude.

In Nigeria we have money released and donated to curb this virus. Yet, we are yet to see investment in where it is most needed. We have States, sitting on massive IGR and allocations refusing to open testing labs or set up quality isolation centres. Without private sector donating, lots of State would not even have isolation centres.

Until the federal government changes its policy on policing people and not the virus, I can not give them praise in any way.

MainJoe:
Without Mass Testing, the Coronavirus Pandemic Will Keep Spreading

---

Countries such as South Korea that test thousands of people per day have slowed the outbreak. Other nations must adopt Seoul’s model before it’s too late.

The key to South Korea’s success has been speed and an early push toward mass testing, rigorous contact tracing, and mandatory quarantine for anyone near a carrier of the virus.

The country, with a population of 51 million, tests more than 20,000 people a day at more than 600 testing sites nationwide, while integrating apps that not only track individuals if they have tested positive, but also warn them if they might have been exposed to a known case.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/23/coronavirus-pandemic-south-korea-italy-mass-testing-covid19-will-keep-spreading/

Lockdown means nothing without testing, isolating and treating infected ones.

chrisooblog:
bro when did this virus gain global attention early January and it's not as if we had the complete picture of the virus something that was domiciled in China like wildfire it spread to Italy before you know it here we are. this is an unprecedented situation that every country is dealing with so saying ours is terrible when every country has a story to tell is a bit unfair. South Africa that you mentioned do you know 80% of the tests is through private sector? so you think the head of NCDC is a total ignoramus who doesn't know more tests need to be done? do you know how much it costs to do 1 test? the labs you mentioned will they drop from the sky? you say we have money when crude oil has been selling for $20 on average for close to a month now
this is not about praising anybody it's about being realistic we have limitations we are trying to work around all hands public and private sector need to be on ground this is not the time for what ifs that change nothing

we can do better yes but at the same time appreciate the little effort being made vis a vis the limited resources we have

TheGoodJoe:

Thank you. It is pure madness telling them to self Quarantine themselves. They should be Quarantined by us for 14 days and stay hydrated all through the period.

chrisooblog:
South Korea has how many test kits that should be your question even almighty a
america is struggling to get people tested so it's not a problem unique to Nigeria. the NCDC hopes to ramp up testing to 1000 tests per day which is still inadequate but it's better than nothing

tbaba1234:


NCDC has built up its testing capacity. They have the capacity for 1,500 tests daily now. There is also a drive by testing site in Yaba, Lagos now.

Obviously, more needs to be done but it is not terrible.

Humility017:


the only way this your post made sense is because it appears that I am derailing the thread otherwise it lacks substance...

I don't know when criticizing the ill-actions of the government is now complain

the truth is some of you foist this on the rest of Nigerians via your votes and rather than stand up to criticize and tell the government the truth you're are still praise singing the crook folks in power..

I won't be surprised if you come here tomorrow to praise the government too for keeping millions of Nigerians at home without pallative measures or praising them for disbursing billions of niara to 2.6m households within 72 hours still haven't seen anyone who got this fund or the extra judicial killings in warri about two-three days ago where over 20 youths have been said to lost their lives and the governor act as it wasn't his concern

you assume the virus would have still entered the country had it been the border was still closed citing its spread to over half of the world countries at the moment just as an excuse to support and exonerate the mediocrity of the government

I know you're one of those who secretly support this folks but you should have come out plain

I will let this slide reason because this is football thread but know like I said those excuses up there lack substances just one of the ways the supporters of this government supports the failure they foist on Nigerians via their ignorant voting

MainJoe:


That is because of cries and repeated batches of criticisms of the health minister. Before in his briefings, he was not even given figures of number of tested individuals.

chrisooblog:
bro when did this virus gain global attention early January and it's not as if we had the complete picture of the virus something that was domiciled in China like wildfire it spread to Italy before you know it here we are. this is an unprecedented situation that every country is dealing with so saying ours is terrible when every country has a story to tell is a bit unfair. South Africa that you mentioned do you know 80% of the tests is through private sector? so you think the head of NCDC is a total ignoramus who doesn't know more tests need to be done? do you know how much it costs to do 1 test? the labs you mentioned will they drop from the sky? you say we have money when crude oil has been selling for $20 on average for close to a month now
this is not about praising anybody it's about being realistic we have limitations we are trying to work around all hands public and private sector need to be on ground this is not the time for what ifs that change nothing

we can do better yes but at the same time appreciate the little effort being made vis a vis the limited resources we have

MainJoe:


I do not believe in lockdowns as a means to curb the virus. Look at the rate at which the virus spreads despite Lockdowns. This virus has a way of penetrating even the most formidable Lockdown situations.

The solution remains rapid testing and early treatment. Just like any other disease. Most people who were discovered to have the virus early survived with early treatment to keep them from getting respiratory conditions.

If we study Dr. Vladimir Zelenko's treatment and regimen, it has to do with getting people treated early. By treating 699 patients with his treatment and regimen, he had no deaths.

The lockdown creates an illusion that all is well by the time the respiratory illness comes, it is too late.

Lockdown means nothing without testing, isolating and treating infected ones.

tbaba1234:


It had nothing to do with criticisms. They have bee building up their testing capacity and opening more test centers.

The number of people tested was low but they are ramping up quickly. We have to understand that we lack infrastructure.

MainJoe:
To date, it (South Africa) has tested more than 47,000 people, although experts and health officials say that much more needs to be done to try and isolate infected individuals. Head of the Medical Research Council Glenda Gray told Quartz Africa that the country should be testing about 25,000 people a day. “We’re far behind.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/qz.com/africa/1832066/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-in-south-africa-leads-continent/amp/

Nigeria is testing about 200 people a day. We have only 8 testing labs unlike South Africa that has over 67 mobile testing labs alone.

I doubt testing is going on in a place like Rivers State. It is baffling why we hinge on Lockdowns that will not keep us safe, over mass testing and isolation that will quickly curb the spread.

Danielnino00:


You can't carry out tests effectively on people if there's no lockdown,can you ?

komekn:


The reason is very simple, we simply do not have the capacity to do mass testing not even the testing of high risk groups.

In Nigeria we are testing the rich and political leaders. Just like the UK.

The UK supposed 5th largest economy in the world. Has been exposed a combination of poor leadership and long term strategic economic planning as well as poor infrastructural capacity.

Consider this 550,000 NHS staff only 2000 have been tested. The reality is that you are more likely to get the virus if you go to hospital from the staff.

In the UK for 6 weeks there has been no hand sanitiser available in the shops. Forget face mask that's not available either.

Why because in the name of globalisation (cheap article) they have outsourced everything. They don't make tooth picks in the UK not cost effective.

At least they are manufacturing hand sanitiser in Nigeria even government is giving it out for free with face masks. Maybe l should ny some in Nigeria and get it DHL to me here, absurd but that's the only way I'll get some.

With out little resources Nigeria is doing well, yes they could do better but the nation is pulling together and will overcome. I think Nigerians should be commended doing a lot from very little.

Danielnino00:


We now have the capacity to test up to 1500 people per day and more testing labs will be ready soon...

It's still low,but it's a start...

Danielnino00:


We now have the capacity to test up to 1500 people per day and more testing labs will be ready soon...

It's still low,but it's a start...

MainJoe:


Yes you can.

You can start with those reporting sick at government hospitals and health centres. Take a statistics from there to show spread of tests and calculate infection rate.

But, it is criminal locking down and not carrying test. Then putting test few centres and make everyone feel all is well like when they were lying we were prepared.

Danielnino00:


What about people who have been infected with the virus but haven't shown any symptom? Self medication is a very common practise in Nigeria households,so it's very likely that a good number of sick people won't bother to report to the health centre or hospital.. they would have infected several hundreds before they are discovered to have the virus..

IMO, the door to door testing that South Africa has adopted might be what Nigeria needs at the moment..

You are only complaining about the lockdown because government didn't provide the necessary palliative for the people before shutting down... That's understandable .. But in more sensible climes,the lockdown has proved to be very effective in combating the virus..

MainJoe:


That figure is a joke. We should have been prepared and we need to declare a state of emergency in the health sector and channel all resources to defeat the primary enemy.

MainJoe:


Almost all revenue coming in should get channelled into stopping this virus. It is not happening now no matter how we try to defend them.

Let the minister tell us the spread of the test. In the 4,000 tested, how many are outside Lagos and Abuja.

In a sane society, this man would have been sacked to get replaced with someone more innovative. Same with NCDC boss. These guys are clearly lost.

We need a sample survey of different regions to know the amount of spread. You can engage various health ministries and boards with some money to carry out sample tests and calculate the possibility of spread.

MainJoe:


I am not talking palliatives here. The first line of action is testing. Not Lockdown or palliatives. Our first line of action is Lockdown and not testing.

We are channelling resources to ghost projects and invisible palliatives when we have not done the first line of defence. Test and get infected ones isolated.

We do not have enough testing centres and we are locking down and sharing invisible palliatives and school feeding program when we need loads of testing and isolation centres. That is where you can have a Lockdown and keep ramping tests to reduce spread.

Danielnino00:


The health sector has been left to rot for too long... The people who are supposed to care for it don't care at all.. They can easily seek better treatment abroad and leave the rest of us to manage the sh**y hospitals they build...the same goes to the education sector where they send their children to the best schools abroad. Now we are all trapped here...

When Buhari government said they were prepared, they specifically meant that Lagos was half prepared.. cus Lagos was the only state with a functioning testing lab. They didn't build new labs ahead,neither did they build isolation wards... It's now that they are acting...

MainJoe:


Why was it low? Is he saying his ministry did not have budget? Is it that they never had the intuition that these was coming?

It is few days ago it was ramped up. Before he announced it, series of journalists asked him why so low a test and the figure of those tested. He did not give figures that day. It was the next day he called the figure and said they would ramp it up.

This is serious stuff we are talking here. We do not have the time for incompetennce.

Danielnino00:


Your first paragraph is wrong... Tests were carried out on some of the contacts of the Italian patients... Not sure of the exact figure but about 20 contacts were tested and they were isolated .. . The other cases came from Nigerians who just returned from abroad..
The lockdown was declared on Monday,over 3 weeks after our first confirmed case. We did testing first before lockdown...

komekn:


I am in God's hands, prayer first. but doing all l can do to stay safe.

Started self isolation in early February and now we have lock down. I go out of my house once in 7-10 days to Tesco, Asda, to buy groceries.

Everything else l do is online l even work remotely. I don't visit anybody it's all virtual if Eee too much video call.

I was in London in early February and what l saw was VERY SCARY, the misplaced bravado and attitudinal behaviour, was reckless. Nobody wearing masks jam packed like sardines.

I knew then that thousands will die first before people will become responsible then it will be too late. London could get much worse than Madrid.

I am almost scared to watch the news, l have not watched it today. But l will not be suprised if a thousand people were lost in the last 24 hrs. London could easily loose 30,000

Nigeria has not lost up to 5 people and we have taken serious action to prevent matters from escalating. Individuals and government.

tbaba1234:


How much was your national health budget? The UN Sec general just recently praised Nigeria's speed of response.

Do you think, things get ramped up overnight? We have very few labs equipped to do these tests so in many cases, they are starting from scratch.

MainJoe:


America are testing 100,000 people a day and these guys are making us believe 4,000 a day is enough to keep a country of 200 million people safe.

tbaba1234:


How much was your national health budget? The UN Sec general just recently praised Nigeria's speed of response.

Do you think, things get ramped up overnight? We have very few labs equipped to do these tests so in many cases, they are starting from scratch.

chrisooblog:
testing 4000 is not adequate but you just don't want to understand they are working with limited capacity. you are expecting Real Madrid output from a team that has the budget and equipment of enyimba

MainJoe:


We can not deceive ourselves anymore.

Now, it is action. So it is ridiculous seeing us still budgeting for frivolous things. What has Lagos government done with N10 Billion. The isolation centre at the stadium came from GTB from what I heard.

They need to account. The health minister needs to give projections for how much testing centres we need and his plan for a sample survey to know the magnitude of infections we have.

We need updates on how far they have tracked. We need to hear of engagements of different sectors from academia to MDAs. There is too much work to goof around.

Heck, getting Osinbanjo immediately on the Covid-19 response team. We need briefings from the Presidency too. Not just the health minister.