₦airaland Forum

The cold snap late last year hit El Paso at the exact wrong time; new COVID-19 patients were streaming into hospitals, many needing high flows of oxygen to breathe. That abrupt, massive draw on the gas created myriad problems: It froze the hospital's pipes and the vaporizers on oxygen tanks, restricting the flow by as much as 70%.
So local companies built pop-up tents with new oxygen pipes in hospital parking lots. That wasn't the only hurdle; tubes, flow meters, nasal cannulas and portable cylinders needed to make the gas breathable were also in short supply.
"When things got pretty bad in our area, we saw the demand for the cylinders at least triple," says Esteban Trejo, general manager of Syoxsa, an El Paso-based oxygen
distributor.
But by then, medical oxygen companies were familiar with what happens in COVID-19 hot spots. From hundreds of miles away in Minnesota, a company shipped Trejo the cylinders they could spare. When his usual oxygen supplier in Albuquerque ran out, Trejo's drivers drove hundreds of extra miles to truck in more from producers in Houston and Phoenix. And no sick patient had to go without.
As hospitals in Brazil, Mexico and across Africa agonize over critical shortages of oxygen, similar worries in the U.S. have been alleviated in part by an industry that's developed new ways of pooling precious resources.
That's not easy to do. Oxygen is not easy to transport. It must be liquified and stored at minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit. It's unstable, flammable and requires special trucks to transport.
Because of its volatility, oxygen is typically produced within about 100 miles of where it's used, near steel factories or paper mills, for example. So there are plenty of oxygen producers throughout the Rust Belt and along the East Coast, but few exist out West, adding to the difficulties of increasing supply in places like Los Angeles.
"That's the problem El Paso has, Albuquerque has, even Denver has," says
Rich Mansmann vice president of the Industrial Welding Distributors Cooperative. That also explains why, for example, oxygen produced in Texas cannot ship to hospitals in Brazil.

But unlike toilet paper or medical masks, demand for oxygen also doesn't hit everywhere at once. It spikes where hospitals reach capacity. So as hot zones travel from coast to coast so, too, do the demands on oxygen.
Learning from the early pandemic experiences in Seattle and New York, the medical oxygen industry now tries to anticipate the virus's path, moving resources to where they're needed.
Mansmann says companies have found new ways to transfer oxygen and supplies across longer distances. His trade group started acting as a clearinghouse for exchanging resources, like "who has access cylinders, who has access storage equipment, who can lend somebody something for a short period of time," he says. It's not just equipment and gas, but also trucks and even manpower.
People like Elias Margonis now track the virus like a weatherman watches hurricanes. "Every day, I start my day to look at where case trends are moving," says Margonis, president of Norco, an oxygen producer and distributor based in Boise, Idaho.
Data, Margonis says, helps him anticipate what's needed, where. He places orders for things when he anticipates short supply, but sometimes he also ends up with excess items. Recently, for example, he had extra portable oxygen machines.
"We then quickly had the ability to move those into the market that really needed them," he says. "And at the end of the day, you know, 50 patients in one market is a significant amount. ... Every life matters."
The increased demand for new machines came primarily from COVID-19 patients who were getting new prescriptions for portable oxygen. Other patients who already had been reliant on portable oxygen cylinders to treat conditions like emphysema and COPD at home or in the hospital were still able to get their devices refilled, even amid the pandemic, Trejo says.
The cooperation among members of the oxygen supply industry extended beyond transferring medical equipment. When hospitals overflowed, companies exchanged information about what they'd learned earlier in the pandemic about how to build pop-up hospitals in places like New York, so they could quickly work around the problem of oxygen pipes freezing.
"We learned the processes to go through there, so when it came to L.A. and elsewhere, we knew how to work with the facilities to get these things set up quickly," says Richard Gottwald, president of the Compressed Gas Association.
Trejo, the El Paso oxygen distributor, says monitoring the fluctuating demands is unrelenting. But he's also inspired by the humanity of his industry colleagues — truck drivers working all night to supply oxygen, one-time rivals, who partner to fill orders.
"All competitive thoughts go out the window," he says. "We're all just trying to help."

Starting early next week, travelers and commuters will be required to wear face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation as part of a sweeping new order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
The order, issued late Friday, will require masks to be worn by "all passengers on public conveyances" traveling into or within the United States, including airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-shares. Coverings will also be required at transportation hubs like airports, bus terminals, and train or subway stations. The new guidelines take effect at 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 1.
"Requiring masks on our transportation systems will protect Americans and provide confidence that we can once again travel safely even during this pandemic," said the 11-page order signed by Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. "Therefore, requiring masks will help us control this pandemic and aid in reopening America's economy."
The new order arrives at a pivotal moment in the pandemic. One year to the day since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global health emergency, the U.S. has seen nearly 26 million cases and more than 436,000 deaths. And while two vaccines have already begun rolling out, troubling new variants from South Africa and the United Kingdom are raising growing alarm about whether health officials can prevent the virus from spiraling even further out of control.
Friday's order helps underscore the importance the new administration is placing on masks as part of that effort. Under President Donald Trump, the CDC was blocked from requiring masks on public transportation, but on his first full day in office President Biden signed an executive order requiring passengers to wear face coverings during interstate travel.
"The experts say by wearing a mask from now until April, we'd save more than 50,000 lives going forward," Biden said.
The CDC order adds several layers of new detail on top of Biden's executive action, listing as one of its four main objectives "the preservation of human life."
The guidelines allow for a handful of exceptions. Children under the age of two won't be required to wear coverings, and neither will anyone with a disability who cannot safely wear a mask. Otherwise, the order says passengers and operators are required to wear their masks at all times except "for brief periods," such as to eat, drink or take medications.
The agency said that airlines and other operators must "at the earliest opportunity" remove any passenger who refuses to comply with the mask order. Anyone violating the order could face potential criminal penalties, but the CDC suggested that civil penalties would be more likely.
Separately on Friday, the CDC announced that it would formally extend a federal moratorium on evictions through March 31. The moratorium, which was designed to help residents who have been economically battered by the pandemic, had been scheduled to expire on Sunday, but was ordered to be renewed by Biden as one of his first acts in office.
"Despite extensive mitigation efforts, COVID-19 continues to spread in America at a concerning pace," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a statement announcing the extension. "The pandemic has also exacerbated underlying issues of housing insecurity for many Americans. Keeping people in their homes and out of congregate settings — like shelters — is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19."





Is former president trump responsible for "not wearing a mask"? The impeachment on Capitol Hill focused on the riots on January 20, and I think Trump's stupid epidemic prevention policy should be investigated. Of course, it's a matter for Americans. The hysterical trump is the choice of American voters. We don't have to worry too much. Such politicians and their actions are unlikely to appear in our country.

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations 2021 policy, citing powers conferred to the Presidency, by Section 4 of the Quarantine Act, Cap. Q2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2010, “…and in consideration of the urgent need to protect the health and wellbeing of Nigerians in the face of the widespread and rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria.”
The signing of the regulations was disclosed in a statement by the FG on Wednesday evening.
The law, which comes in 5 parts, includes; Part 1- Restrictions on Gatherings; Part 2- Operations of Public Places; Part 3- Mandatory Compliance with Treatment Protocols; Part 4 – Offences and Penalties; Part 5 – Enforcement and Application; and Part 6 -Interpretation and Citation.
The regulations require that physical distance of at least two metres shall be maintained at all times between persons. No gathering of more than 50 persons shall hold in an enclosed space, except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50% capacity of the space.
“The provisions of these Regulations may be varied by Guidelines and Protocols as may be issued, from time to time, by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19 on the recommendation of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)”
Operations of Public Places 
No person shall be allowed within the premises of a market, mall, supermarket, shop, restaurant, hotel, event centre, garden, leisure park, recreation centre, motor park, fitness centre or any other similar establishment except the person is using a facemask and has washed hands.
Managers of hostels, boarding houses, nursing homes, correctional centres, remand homes, holding cells, military detention facilities, and such centres for care and custody of persons, shall ensure compliance with the provisions of these regulations.
Managers of such facilities shall ensure that suspected cases of Covid-19 are promptly and appropriately separated from others and are reported to medical officers of the State Ministry of Health for necessary action.
Mandatory Compliance with Treatment Protocols 
Persons confirmed to have tested positive to COVID-19 by an NCDC accredited laboratory, may not refuse isolation and or admission to a designated health establishment for management of the disease.
All public secondary and tertiary health facilities shall designate a space or holding bay for the initial triage or assessment of suspected persons with COVID-19 in line with the approved protocol for case management.
All public secondary and tertiary health facilities shall establish sample collection centres, where test samples from suspected cases can be collected and transmitted to an accredited testing laboratory in the State.
Offences and Penalties
Any person who contravenes the provisions of these regulations commits an offence.
 Any person who, without reasonable cause, contravenes a direction given under Parts 1 and 2 of these regulations commits an offence.
An offence under these regulations is punishable, on summary conviction, by a fine or a term of six months imprisonment or both in accordance with Section 5 of the Quarantine Act.
Enforcement and Application 
Personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, and other relevant Local Government, State and Federal Government agencies are hereby directed to enforce the provisions of these regulations.
Any officer of the enforcement agencies who fails, neglects, or refuses to enforce the provisions of these regulations shall be subject to disciplinary action
State Governors may issue regulations on further steps as may be considered necessary.
On interpretations of the law, the FG said, “Offence” means any act, which may constitute a violation of the provisions of these regulations, while “Enforcement Agency” means any law enforcement or security agency vested with the statutory power to investigate and prosecute. The law also stated that the regulations would go into effect immediately and remain in effect until otherwise determined.
What you should know 
Nairametrics reported this week that the Federal Government had announced the extension of the guidelines of phase 3 of the eased lockdown by one month with effect from Tuesday, January 26, 2021.

The Nigerian government on Monday said the 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines expected in the country by the end of January will no longer arrive until February.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, while speaking at its briefing said efforts to access and deploy the COVID-19 vaccines are progressing.
“The effort to access and deploy vaccines is progressing and as already announced by COVAX, the initial 100,000 doses Nigeria is expecting will now arrive in the early weeks of February,” Mr Mustapha said.
The Nigerian government had announced that at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines will arrive the country by the end of January through the COVAX co-financing public-private facility.
But several global health experts and bodies told PREMIUM TIMES late December, 2020 that it is “almost impossible” for Nigeria to start receiving vaccines in January.
Distribution campaigns across Africa are not likely to begin until April, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated. Even then, fewer doses will be sent to African countries than are being shipped to the United States and Europe.
“It will be extremely terrible to see,” said John Nkengasong, the Africa CDC director.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Olorunnimbe Mamora, also hinted that the vaccines may not arrive the country as soon as expected.
“We are working very hard to get vaccines for our people. It may not come soon enough, therefore we need to be alive to get the vaccines when they come,” Mr Mamora said at a PTF briefing.

A former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abdullahi Ibrahim, died of COVID-19, on Sunday.
Mr Ibrahim, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who served as Minister of Transport and Aviation in the military regime of Muhammadu Buhari, was said to have died in an isolation centre in Abuja on Sunday.
A former top government official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter ahead of the family, broke the news to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday.
Mr Ibrahim’s Wikipedia page was also updated on Sunday to reflect his demise.
Mr Ibrahim, from Kogi State, served as the AGF of the military regime of Abdusalami Abubakar, an army general, that handed over to the civilian administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
Prior to his appointment as the AGF, Mr Ibrahim served as the Minister of Education, Science and Technology.
Mr Ibrahim is the latest among former and serving top government personalities who lost their lives to COVID-19.

The Justice Department closed its insider trading probe into Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., his lawyer said in a statement on Tuesday.
Burr faced calls to resign last year after reports that the powerful Intelligence Committee chairman privately warned well-connected donors of the dire impacts of the coronavirus pandemic while also selling off up to $1.6 million of his own stocks.
“Senator Burr is pleased that the Department of Justice has completed a thorough review of this matter and closed it without further action," Alice Fisher, Burr’s lawyer, said in a statement. "As the country continues to concentrate efforts on battling the challenges presented by COVID-19, Senator Burr’s focus will remain on the safety and security of North Carolinians and the United States as a whole.“
The DOJ also confirmed the investigation has been closed.

Nigeria confirmed over 1,400 new coronavirus cases as schools resumed on Monday amid calls for parents not to send their children for learning.
As many as 1,444 more infections, and 15 related deaths were registered over the last 24 hours, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The new numbers pushed the tally to 110,387 cases, 1,435 deaths and 89,317 recoveries across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous country, has been unable to control the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. A record 1,867 infections were confirmed on Jan. 15.
Meanwhile, the NCDC reminded school administrations to ensure temperature checks at entry points, compulsory use of a face mask, provision of hand-washing facilities and that classrooms are well ventilated.
In a statement on Jan. 14, the Federal Education Ministry said the proposed date of school resumption – Jan. 18 – will not change.
Olusegun Bamgbose, the national coordinator for Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, a non-profit, warned parents against sending their children to school, according to the Daily Post newspaper.
Bamgbose said the decision to reopen schools at this point when the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing on a daily basis is a big risk.

If you ask New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy why Covid-19 vaccinations are happening so slowly, he’ll say the answer is simple.

“The constraint is 100 percent right now supply from the feds,” Murphy, a Democrat, told a local TV station Thursday.

Ask the feds, and they’ll say they’ve distributed far more doses than the states have used, leaving vaccines on the shelf.

“Some states’ heavy-handed micromanagement of this process has stood in the way of vaccines reaching a broader swath of the vulnerable population more quickly,” Alex Azar, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, said at a Tuesday briefing, without singling out particular states.

And if you ask the vaccine makers, they’ll say the problem is not on their side, either.

“I don’t think that we have an issue of offering less vaccines than the countries frankly need. We have much more than they can use right now,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC Tuesday.

One month into a vaccine rollout that has fallen short of everyone’s expectations, the blame-shifting over who’s at fault for the bottlenecks is multiplying and threatening to disrupt vaccinations even further. And that is frustrating public health experts who say that the Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccination team seems to be sleep-walking through its final days.

Travelers flying into the United States from international destinations will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the new policy Tuesday and said it will go into effect Jan. 26. The agency said it hopes the new testing requirement will help slow the spread of the virus, currently surging in the United States, as the vaccine rollout continues.
“Testing does not eliminate all risk,” CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said in a statement,“but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports and at destinations.”
The CDC said travelers must get a viral test within three days before their flight to the U.S., which will likely send some vacationers scrambling to find locations during their trip.
Passengers will have to show proof of a negative test to their airline before boarding. If a passenger does not provide documentation of a negative test or recovery from COVID-19, or chooses not to take a test, the airline must deny boarding, the CDC says.
The number of passengers arriving in the United States on international flights has surged since June as travel has rebounded despite the continuing pandemic, according to Martin Cetron, the director of the CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine.
There were 2.1 million arrivals between Dec. 1 and Dec. 28, he said, an average of 76,000 passengers a day and quadruple the number of passengers in June.
"There's been this resurgence,'' he said in an interview with USA TODAY before the testing requirement was announced.
For months, airlines have been pushing for a testing program to restart badly depressed international travelespecially critical business travel. Airlines bank on business travelers because they buy pricey last-minute tickets and travel frequently.
It is a responsible performance to prove that the COVID-19 test is negative before boarding, otherwise the infected person is like a time bomb.

Ekiti has re-imposed fresh restrictions to movement and banned large public gatherings amid fears of the escalating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Akin Omole, announced on Sunday evening, in Ado Ekiti, that the state government had imposed a an 8.00 pm to 6.00 am daily curfew across the state.
Omole said in a statement that government had equally banned all public gatherings of more than 20 people, anywhere in the state until further notice.
”These restrictions take effect from Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 at 6:00am. These drastic steps, as approved by Gov Kayode Fayemi, are as a result of the alarming rate at which the second wave of COVID-19 is spreading in Nigeria and elsewhere”, he said.
According to him, there was the need for government to be proactive and take decisive steps, to secure the citizens from falling victims of the pandemic that had claimed thousands of lives across the globe.
He urged the people to continue to strictly observe the COVID-19 protocols, and also abide by the curfew and new restrictions placed on public gatherings by the government.
Omole also called on the people to ensure that they wore their nose masks properly, washed their hands with soap and use hand sanitiser regularly, as well as kept social distance, to avoid contracting the virus. He added that the 8.00 pm to 6.00 am curfew imposed throughout the state would be strictly enforced, except for those that are on essential services, while the ban on all public gatherings, of more than 20 people, should be strictly observed, to avoid penalties.
The commissioner announced that the government would, however, allow faithfuls to observe two services of their religious worships on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, accordingly, but that all the services must not extend beyond 2.00pm on the days.
To facilitate the services, all worship centers would be expected to provide necessary facilities for hand washing, soap and hand sanitizer at the entrance, while infrared thermometers should be used to take worshippers’ temperature before being allowed in for the service, Omole said.
He added that the State COVID-19 Response Committee, and other relevant enforcement agencies, would be monitoring compliance with all the renewed directives, warning that any person or group of persons caught violating the measures would be dealt with according to the law.
The commissioner called on all top government functionaries, at the state and local government levels, including Council chairmen, traditional rulers and law enforcement agencies, to obey the protocols themselves, as well as monitor compliance, and report promptly any violators to the COVID-19 Response Taskforce.
The statement assured that government would continue to do all within its power, to ensure that the second wave of the pandemic did not have a foothold in the state.
NAN recalled that during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, the government applied similar measures, over several months, affecting virtually all areas of life, including commercial activities, offices, schools, social activities, markets, as well as worship centres, among others.

Everyone has seen the horrors of the epidemic. We cannot relax our vigilance just because the epidemic is under control. We still need to do a good job of protection at all times.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State Branch has urged the Federal and state governments to be transparent in all COVID-19 dealings, spending, procurement and distribution, saying it was the way to go if rapid progress would be achieved in the fight against coronavirus in the country this year. Chairman, Infectious Disease Committee, NMA, Lagos Branch, Dr. Japheth Olugbogi who made the call as part of projections to move the health sector forward in 2021 in the area of COVID-19, urged governments at all level to continue to do more of health awareness, prepare documentaries and show videos of certain part of isolation centers as evidences of coronavirus in the country. He said governments also needed to empower medical directors, chief medical directors of general hospitals and teaching hospitals and also equip hospitals and coronavirus isolation centers.
Similarly, governments must provide consumable commodities that care providers need to carry out their duties and also provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers so that they can carry out their duties when due. Olugbogi said, “We can also need to increase capacity for testing to encourage the citizens to visit COVID- 19 testing centers. I know that there are too many laboratories that can carry out the testing but people are not visiting these centers for one reason or the other.
“They need to encourage private persons to visit these laboratories, visit the sample collection centers and we don’t have to wait till people become ill before we test those who want to test.” He said governments should encourage persons who want to test so that we can also subsidise the tests which are being done at private laboratories so that they can be less expensive. He said, “We should not assume everyone who wants to travel should be able to afford the test being done at N50,400.
If we subside it some citizens who don’t want to go to the public centers can visit the private labs. “Also, we need to open the isolation centers as there are several people receiving home care at home who probably need to be at the isolation centers.
“We need the isolation centers, hence, governments should equip them with the necessary commodities and appropriate staff so that people can get care when the need arises. “We also need to increase the hazard allowance being paid to medical workers. We also need to pay on time in order to motivate them so that they can give their best. “We also need to enforce people wearing face masks in public places.”

The presence of a new, more-contagious strain of the coronavirus has been confirmed for the first time in New York state, which at one point was the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the variant, which has spread uncontrolled in England, was identified in a man in his 60s who works at a Saratoga Springs jewelry store. Cuomo said the man has not traveled recently, pointing to the likelihood of community spread.
Vaccine rollout in the U.S. is still ramping up, and less than 4.6 million people have received a first dose even though more than 15.4 million have been distributed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New Jersey officials said only 25% of the doses sent to the state have been administered, but they expect the pace to pick up now that the holidays are over.
More than 1.3 million travelers passed through the nation's airports on Sunday, a new pandemic travel record as many passengers returned home from their holiday destinations. Those numbers are still down significantly from a year ago, but the holiday travel season was stronger than expected despite warnings from public health officials.
The first Americans to get the Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus in mid-December, mostly health care workers, started to get inoculated with a second dose Monday.
Stay safe and informed with updates on the spread of the coronavirus
The U.S. coronavirus numbers are in for December, and they are grisly. New infections jumped more than 40% from November – and November had more than twice as many cases as any previous month. The December death toll also set a record. More details below.
President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to administer 100 million shots of the vaccine within his first 100 days in office is achievable, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert.

Two weeks ago, I called to check on a mentee who works with an international development organisation. He told me he was in an isolation centre in Abuja for COVID-19 treatment after testing positive to the virus. He was asymptomatic; the test was carried out because he came in contact with his symptomatic colleague who was diagnosed much earlier. He shared his experience with me which he didn’t consider pleasant. In the course of the treatment, no one counselled him. Though asymptomatic, he was given antibiotics and haematinics with no explanation of the purpose of the drugs. For an asymptomatic viral infection, what was the purpose of a broad spectrum antibiotics therapy? Why was there no form of counselling, or wasn’t his mental health considered important? I wondered. That’s a story for another day.
In another development, my sister and her hubby were tested for COVID-19 in Ebonyi State five months ago, precisely in July 2020. As I write, the results of the tests have not been communicated to them. They had no suggestive symptoms though. About a month earlier, my regular cab driver in the state called me, with much anxiety to disclose that he tested positive to COVID-19. He conducted the test after a medical doctor he interacted with was found to have the virus. He told me that he received his test from the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital by proxy. Although he was asymptomatic, no public health official reached out to guide him on what to do. He isolated at home and followed the lead I and his “doctor-customer” provided. A couple of other friends who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Abakaliki shared a similar story of alleged abandonment by the state health officials. These guys would have probably died if they had severe symptoms.
I wouldn’t want to bore you further with more stories as the accounts I have gotten from Nigerians resident in different parts of the country are quite similar. It may be recalled that I was very visible during the lockdown, as a regular guest on various television channels and radio stations across the country. I was also very active on social media, granted interviews copiously to newspapers and wrote a couple of op-ed articles in support of the lockdown and the measures the government was taking at the time. I also demanded accountability from the government and citizens. I did them with the hope that the pandemic would open the eyes of our political leaders to pay serious attention to the health sector for the first time. Although I am disappointed with the overall response so far, I do not regret my actions. So, I won’t be surprised if one is wondering why I am opposed to further restrictions and lockdown, I will explain in the course of this piece.
No doubt, the Covid19 pandemic has changed the world. It has disrupted the normal and presented new realities, what many have described as the “new normal”. It also presents opportunities for innovation, increased investment in the health sector, massive health promotion and education activities, creation of a conducive environment for more scientific research and local production of health commodities, as well as efficient management of available resources to make our health system stronger and our hospitals work. How well has Nigeria responded to the pandemic? With the rising cases of the infection evidenced by a high case positivity rate, would further restrictions and another lockdown make a significant difference? What should we do differently? I will share my thoughts after a couple of stories. This article is somewhat lengthy, I hope you read it to the end and share your thoughts thereafter.

A total blockade will exacerbate the current economic recession and cause social panic. It is hoped that the government can effectively intervene in prevention, not across the board.

A congressman-elect from Louisiana died Tuesday evening from complications of Covid-19 days before he was set to be sworn into office, his spokesman announced. He was 41.
Luke Letlow, a Republican, was elected to represent Louisiana's 5th Congressional District in a runoff this month.
A spokesman, Andrew Bautsch, confirmed Letlow's death at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport on Letlow's Facebook page.
"The family appreciates the numerous prayers and support over the past days but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected time," Bautsch said in a statement. "A statement from the family along with funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time."
Letlow is survived by his wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow, and two young children, Bautsch said.
He died less than a week before the new Congress is to be sworn in on Jan. 3.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged people in the state to pray for Letlow's family, and he will order flags to be flown at half-staff on the day of his funeral.
Letlow announced Dec. 18 that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and tweeted days later that he was being treated at a hospital. On Wednesday, his representative said he had been transferred to another hospital, where he was stable in the intensive care unit.
Louisiana's congressional delegation, including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, said in a statement that "we are devastated to hear of Luke Letlow's passing."
"Luke had such a positive spirit, and a tremendously bright future ahead of him," the delegation of representatives and senators said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted: "Our hearts break tonight as we process the news of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow's passing."
Letlow also worked for former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who tweeted that he and his wife, Supriya, were heartbroken.
"Luke has been a good friend for so many years, and we are saddened he was taken from us at such a young age," Jindal wrote. "We had talked in recent days about his excitement about the opportunity to serve the people of the 5th Congressional district, and his love and devotion for Julia and their kids."
"I first met Luke when he was still a college student, and spent countless hours with him in his truck driving the back roads of Louisiana," Jindal wrote. "His passion for service has been a constant throughout his life."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement: "Tonight, the United States House of Representatives sadly mourns the passing of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow."
Letlow beat fellow Republican Lance Harris in a runoff election this month, 62 percent to 38 percent, according to the secretary of state's website.
He was chief of staff for Rep. Ralph Abraham, whom he was elected to succeed in Congress, Edwards said. Abraham announced that he was not running for re-election in February.
There have been 304,000 confirmed or probable Covid-19 cases in Louisiana and almost 7,400 deaths, according to the state Health Department.
Nationwide, there have been more than 19.5 million cases, with more than 338,000 deaths, according to an NBC News count of reports.
A spokesman for Edwards said he will call for a special election to fill the seat, which will coincide with the election to fill Rep. Cedric Richmond's seat as the Louisiana Democrat, who also tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, is joining President-elect Joe Biden's administration.
The Louisiana secretary of state's office said the primary is tentatively set for March 20 and the general election on April 24 if necessary.

After the announcement, which was made this week with discretion, the African Center for Disease Control organized an emergency meeting to analyze the new scenario. Acegid analyzed 200 samples of the virus in early December and two of them, taken from patients on August 3 and October 9, have genetic mutations.
In this regard, Professor Christian Happi, a molecular biologist who participated in the genetic sequencing of this new variant, asked that this discovery not be “extrapolated”, that is, that hasty hypotheses should not be drawn. “We have no idea or certainty whether this variant is directly related to the increase in cases that Nigeria is currently seeing.”, he specified.
The country with 200 million inhabitants had more than 82,000 cases registered on Saturday and 1,246 deceasedFigures that, however, are relatively low but the number of tests carried out in the country is negligible. All in all, something seems to be true: the case fatality rate, relatively low in Nigeria, compared to western countries, it did not increase.
In Africa, so far, 2.4 million cases of coronavirus have been registered, that is, 3.6% of the world total. As to deceased, more than 57,000 confirmed, that is, less than in France (59,072), which is seventh in the global grid of deaths from the disease.
Thanks to the genetic sequencing of the virus, a highly sophisticated screening operation that can only be performed by 12 laboratories on the African continent, Professor Happi and his team were able to describe the evolution of the mutation.
Acegid is working with the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Center (NCDC), the national public health body, to try to explain the recent increase in Covid-19 cases and whether this could be due to the new strain.
“I ask people not to extrapolate. There is a tendency to extrapolate with these new variants of the virus,” stressed the professor. “Nothing shows us, for example, that the strain found in England would have the same effects in Nigeria” and vice versa. “If there is something that Covid-19 has taught us, it is that in everything we thought we knew about this virus, we were wrong,” Happi recalled.
“Some predicted that a third of the population of Africa would die, but we cannot apply the research and figures gathered in Europe and the United States and apply it here: we are genetically different, our immune health is different.”he insisted.
For his part, the director of the CDC of the African Union, Jhon Nkengasong, asked “time” while investigating the rate of spread of the new strain in Nigeria, during a videoconference from Addis Ababa.

Before the coronavirus disappeared, a new virus emerged, which caught researchers off guard. It is difficult to imagine what consequences this virus will have if it continues to spread. We must continue to protect it. Even though a vaccine is available, the harm of the virus must not be underestimated.

When his furlough notice came in March, Kingsley Chukwuemeka Udeoji wasn’t too surprised. Nigeria had announced a partial COVID-19 lockdown, and the private high school in north-central Niger state where he taught math was sending students home.
The timing was awkward: Mr. Udeoji’s wife had quit her marketing job and just given birth to their first child, a daughter named Tiffany. But he thought the shutdown would be short-lived, like the one during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that Nigeria managed to keep at bay.
It was not to be. As Nigeria braced for a pandemic that many feared could sink its patchy health care system, the government kept prolonging the lockdown and Mr. Udeoji grew desperate as he spent down his savings. “The baby had to eat. Mother had to eat. I had to eat. It got too much,” he says.
Some 2,000 miles away, Hassan Ais, a factory owner in Mansoura, Egypt, was also flailing.
Sales of his beauty products had collapsed, and he had laid off all but one of his seven workers. Nobody had much money to spare for nonessentials like shampoo. But the economic hardship in the Nile delta wasn’t simply the result of Egypt’s lockdown. The source of the trouble lay farther away in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, where millions of Egyptian migrants ply their trades.
“There are entire villages here that rely on citizens working the Gulf to send money home,” says Mr. Ais. “With their salaries cut or them being let go, purchasing power suddenly is extremely limited.”
Nigeria and Egypt are examples of developing countries that averted runaway pandemics in 2020, to the relief of health officials, only to face economic crises due to social restrictions at home and an unprecedented global collapse in trade, travel, and capital flows. This includes remittances from migrants who funnel money from better-off nations to some of the poorest.

As Thanksgiving approached, Americans were bombarded with warnings that holiday travel and gatherings would bring a "surge on top of a surge" — setting the country on a precarious path as it entered the next round of holidays in late December.
Three weeks later, many places are now contending with a wave of infections that local health authorities say were fueled by the Thanksgiving holiday, although some regions appear to have evaded a dramatic rise, at least so far.
"We are seeing a tremendous surge in cases in many locations around the United States that are associated with the Thanksgiving dinners, family get-togethers and social events," says Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Much of the evidence comes from health departments that are tracing clusters of cases, but Osterholm suspects that hospitalizations and deaths — "lagging indicators" — will reveal the full impact in a few more weeks.
In the Texas capital of Austin, public health authorities said that Thanksgiving drove a surge of new infections that risks overwhelming hospitals. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has urged residents not to "have a repeat" of Thanksgiving in the next round of holidays. And California — where cases have shot up a staggering 150% over the past two weeks — appears to be in the throes of a surge that is at least partly linked to Thanksgiving.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unrelenting U.S. coronavirus surge pushed hospitals further to their limits as the United States pressed on with its immunization rollout on Thursday and prepared to ship nearly 6 million doses of a new vaccine on the cusp of winning regulatory approval.
COVID-19 hospitalizations rose to record heights for a 19th straight day, with nearly 113,000 coronavirus patients in U.S. medical facilities nationwide on Wednesday, while 3,580 more Americans perished, the most yet in a single day.
Another 232,255 U.S. COVID-19 infections were reported on Wednesday, the second-highest daily U.S. case load on record, driving the number of known U.S. infections to more than 17 million since the pandemic began.
The highly contagious virus has claimed almost 308,000 lives in the United States to date, the most in the world.
The staggering toll underscores the stakes involved as U.S. regulators weighed whether to grant emergency use authorization for a vaccine developed by Moderna Inc, a week after an earlier vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE won consent for mass distribution.
The initial 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine began shipping on Sunday and were still making their way to hospitals across the country and into the arms of doctors, nurses, and other frontline medical professionals.
Some of the first shots were also going to residents and staff of long-term care facilities. Later vaccine rounds will go to other essential workers, senior citizens and people with chronic health conditions.
It will take several months before vaccines are widely available to the public on demand, and opinion polls have found many Americans hesitant about getting inoculated.
Some are distrustful of immunizations in general, and some are wary of the unprecedented speed with which the first vaccines were developed and rolled out - 11 months from the first documented U.S. cases of COVID-19.
Public health authorities have sought to reassure Americans that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe as well as highly effective at preventing illness.

Authorities of the University of Ibadan (UI) have urged members of the community not to panic over a confirmed COVID-19 case attended to at the University Clinic.
The spokesperson for the university, Olatunji Oladejo, said in a statement on Tuesday that UI Clinic had been closed for seven days following a confirmed COVID-19 case.
Mr Oladejo said there was no panic in UI contrary to the news of palpable fear in the university making the rounds.
He said: “The University of Ibadan community and the general public are hereby informed that a client who was first seen on 10th Dec. and later admitted in the University Health Service (UHS), also known as Jaja Clinic, overnight of 13/14 December tested positive to COVID-19.
“The Oyo State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) was notified immediately.
“Accordingly, the centre inspected the premises (Jaja Clinic), and made the following recommendations:
“Disinfection/Decontamination of premises which has been done, Follow-up of all those who had contact with the client by the EOC; and Closure of the clinic from 4.00p.m. of 15 December, 2020 for a seven day period.”
Mr Oladejo said the reopening of the University Clinic would be subject to review by the Oyo State Emergency Operation Centre (EOC).
He further said, “beyond closure, the EOC is working with the UHS (Jaja Clinic) to ensure that all processes for safe work are put in place.
“NHIS enrollees may access care at the Eleyele Police Clinic during the closure.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised governments and development partners to adopt similar strategies used in containing the COVID-19 pandemic to address other health problems afflicting their people.
In his message delivered at this year's World AIDS Day, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said due to COVID-19 pandemic, the world has realised how important it is to come together, with determined leadership from governments and communities to sustain and expand access to essential services, including HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care.
Moeti said: "To sustain and accelerate the gains made, I urge governments and partners to come together, with the same level of urgency and leadership demonstrated in response to COVID-19, to increase domestic funding and strengthen health systems".
Regarding the efforts to contain HIV/AIDS, Moeti said there must be global solidarity and shared responsibility among all stakeholders to ensure integrated, people-centred, quality care and an uninterrupted supply of essential commodities for HIV services.
According to Mieti, there are 38 million people living with HIV globally and 67 per cent of them are living in the WHO African region, adding that in 2019, more than one million people in the region were newly infected with HIV, accounting for 60 per cent of the global total.
He further said that 440,000 people in the region died from HIV-related causes.
The WHO director said the pandemic is making it even more challenging for countries to provide these services, particularly in areas affected by conflict, disasters, outbreaks and rapid population growth.

The poultry industry in Nigeria might be forced into a shutdown by January 2021 if urgent action is not taken by the government to address the high cost of grains, amongst other challenges facing the industry, warned Ezekiel Ibrahim, president of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).
“The present atmosphere and scenario of things are very alarming and critical,” said Ibrahim, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed resulted in devastating losses suffered by the sector with a restriction of movement of eggs, day-old chicks, poultry feeds, and other essential inputs for poultry production. Many small and medium-sized poultry farms have closed, and billions of Naira have been lost, reports the Premium Times Nigeria.
The present in the poultry industry in Nigeria is critical, according to the president of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Ezekiel Ibrahim. Photo: Toni Etyang
One of the biggest problems facing the industry is the supply of grains. The price of maize has risen from N85,000 (US$ 223) per tonne in November 2019 to between N145,000 (US$ 380) and N160,000 (US$ 420) per tonne today.
The government supported the industry by releasing 5,000 mt of maize at subsidised prices in anticipation of the price of maize falling or at least stabilizing during the harvest season.
Even more worrying is the supply of soybeans in the country. Where available, soybeans are being sold for between N215,000 (US$ 564) and N250,000 per tonne, according to The Guardian Nigeria. Feed costs have risen by over 75% between March and November 2020. “In March, the price of finished feed sold between N2,650 (US$ 6.95) and N3,000 (US$ 7.87) is now selling between N4,600 (US$ 12.07) and N5,300 (US$ 13.90) per 25kg bag,” said Ibrahim, further advising the government to immediately halt the export of soybeans as well maize.
The result, he said, threatens about 5 to 10 million jobs. The GM of Premier Feed Mills, Austin Dalyop, said the quality of Nigerian soybeans, being a non-GMO variant, has placed the grain on high demand on the international market. He further attributed the current downturn to the bird flu outbreak that affected many farms at the beginning of the year.

For the third day in a row, the US on Saturday notched a record number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours, reaching nearly 230,00 new infections, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
In that same stretch, the US recorded 2,527 Covid-related deaths, according to real-time data provided by the Baltimore-based university at 1.30am GMT on Saturday.
The US – the country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world – has seen a dramatic resurgence in its epidemic in recent weeks.
US health officials warned of a surge after millions of Americans travelled to celebrate last week’s Thanksgiving holiday despite pleas from authorities to stay home.
For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country’s outbreak.
The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 is also steadily increasing, especially in the most populous states of California, Florida, New York and Texas, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
The US has recorded more than 14.6 million Covid cases and more than 281,000 related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

ABUJA, NIGERIA - In Nigeria, authorities are worried that coronavirus infections may spike again, as millions ignore safety measures such as wearing face masks and social distancing. A jump in infections could force another lockdown, hurting the economy.
Nigerian butcher Martin Olaiya, 45, strongly strikes the blades of his cutting knives against the other in order to attract the attention of customers.
It has been months since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown was lifted and this Utako market in Abuja is again operating at full capacity.
But among many concerns of business owners like Olaiya, the coronavirus pandemic is the least of them. 
"Market is really bad," he tells VOA. "We don't know what the coronavirus is; we haven't seen it. There's nothing that concerns Nigeria with that. God will not allow it." 
Many traders like Olaiya continue to doubt the coronavirus ever existed, and therefore are flouting safety rules.
Abuja resident Dorothy Iwuozo, who's shopping for groceries, is one of very few people wearing a face mask. 
She says she's not happy that others are not taking responsibility.
"Look around you; you can count a number of people wearing face masks, people are touching meat, food stuff; they don't sanitize their hands," she complains. 
Nigeria has recorded more than 67,400 cases of the coronavirus since its first one in February. 
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control says the country reached its peak infections between July and August, and then recorded a downward trend. 
But officials say coronavirus infections began rising again in November, as many countries began battling a second wave of the infection. 
Chinwe Ochu, a director at the NCDC, worries that citizens, especially younger people, have stopped being vigilant.  
Males aged above 21 years and less than 50 years are more likely not to adhere to COVID-19 prevention protocols because they're usually the ones that don't have the severe symptoms," Ochu told VOA. "But these are likely to have the disease and transmit it to the vulnerable elderly groups or people with comorbidities who could die from it.” 
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.

CDC advisers will gather on Tuesday to decide who will be in the first priority group for the coronavirus vaccine. There is debate surrounding whether nursing home residents should be included.

The leader of France says the country is past the peak of the second wave. A surge in California is shattering records. Pennsylvania bans alcohol sales past 5 p.m. on Wednesday, in a bid to stopAmericans have agonized over Thanksgiving this year, weighing skyrocketing case numbers and blunt warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against the need, after a grim and worrying year, to gather with family for a traditional, carbohydrate-laden ritual.
Around 27 percent of Americans plan to dine with people outside their household, according to interviews conducted by the global data-and-survey firm Dynata at the request of The New York Times.
Views on whether to risk Thanksgiving gatherings appear to track closely with political views, with respondents identifying as Democrats far less likely to be planning a multihousehold holiday.
Megan Baldwin, 42, had planned to drive from New York to Montana to be with her parents, but last week, she canceled her plans.
“I thought I would get tested and take all the precautions to be safe, but how could I risk giving it to my parents, who are in their 70s?” she said, adding that they were not happy with the decision.
“All they want is to see their grandkids,” she said, “but I couldn’t forgive myself if we got them sick. It’s not worth it.”
Others decided to take the plunge, concluding that the emotional boost of being together outweighed the risk of becoming infected.
“We all agreed that we need this — we need to be together during this crazy, lonely time, and we are just going to be careful and hope that we will all be OK,” said Martha Dillon, who will converge with relatives from four different states on her childhood home in Kentucky.

President-elect Joe Biden revealed Wednesday that there will be only three people at his Thanksgiving table as Americans across the country were warned that large gatherings could risk further spread of the coronavirus.
As the holiday approaches, Americans seeking coronavirus tests are experiencing lengthier lines and waiting days to get test results — delays that are expected to intensify as people try to get tested ahead of family gatherings.
One by one, governors in states across the country are implementing new coronavirus restrictions as cases hit record levels, with Minnesota, Kentucky and Kansas the latest to announce stricter measures Wednesday.
The drumbeat of orders comes during one of the pandemic’s darkest times: Nearly every state has recently set records for daily infections, virus hospitalizations continue to mount and covid-19 killed more people Wednesday than on any day since May.
Minnesota bars, gyms and other non-essential businesses were ordered to close for four weeks beginning Friday after a series of targeted restrictions issued by Gov. Tim Walz (D) did not stop the state from reporting a new high for hospitalizations Wednesday. Restaurants are limited to takeout or delivery only.
Walz pointed to widespread community transmission identified through data collection as reason for the closures in an evening video statement.
“We now know that more than a third of the folks who are getting infected are coming from sources they don’t know,” he said. “That’s very, very dangerous because if we can’t test, if we can’t isolate, the spread exponentially grows.”

American Bank Center's popular Christmas-themed event has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, officials said.
The convention center announced in a news release Wednesday its Coastal Christmas event will not take place in 2020 due to the high potential of COVID-19 transmission from person-to-person within indoor spaces and out of concern for guests.
For the past few years, American Bank Center has hosted Coastal Christmas throughout the month of December to encourage families to enjoy some fun wintry events. Some of the past events included ice skating at its indoor ice rink, a snow slide for kids, face-painting, a life-size snow globe, holiday refreshments and visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
“We are disappointed to have to cancel Coastal Christmas this year as this event has been received so well by the community," said Matt Blasy, the convention center's general manager. "While the ASM Global staff wanted to provide a holiday event during this challenging year, unfortunately, there were too many concerns to overcome. We look forward to Coastal Christmas returning in 2021.”
The winter event isn't the only holiday celebration to be canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The city's annual Harbor Lights Festival, which usually takes place on the first weekend of December, was also canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
In light of many event cancelations, the Corpus Christi Downtown Management District has orchestrated a series of projects throughout the holidays.
Some of the projects include the virtual lighting of the H-E-B Christmas Tree, the Port of Corpus Christi Holiday Tree at La Retama Park, holiday lights at Peppermint Lane on Chaparral Street and Artesian Park.

The Nigerian government says that the latest increase in the pump price of petrol, also known as Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, was informed by the announcement by an American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, of its recent breakthrough in the discovery of a vaccine against COVID-19.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, who gave this explanation, spoke on a day the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, warned the government that there was a limit to what the citizens could tolerate, if the abysmal increases in the price of refined petroleum products and other essential goods and services continued.
The minister told State House correspondents after a routine visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Villa in Abuja that the announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer triggered a slight increase in the price of crude oil in the global market.
He said: “What happened recently was because of the announcement of a vaccine for COVID-19 by Pfizer. With that, crude oil prices went up a little bit.
“If you have been following crude oil prices, you would have seen that crude oil prices went up a little bit as a result of this announcement. So, when crude oil prices go up a little bit, then you will see that (it will) instantly reflect on the price of petrol, which is a derivative of crude oil.”
According to him, the pump price of petrol is directly determined by the price of crude oil in the global market.
He stated that it was not the first time the government would give the same explanation whenever the pump price of petrol changed in the country, adding that government took the decision to deregulate the sector in order to ensure its optimum performance.
“When the price of crude oil goes up, then it means that the price of the fixed stock has gone higher; it will also affect the price of the refined product and that is why you see that product prices are usually not static, it depends on the price of crude oil which goes up and down.

The number of COVID-19 infections in Nigeria has exceeded 65,000 amid fears of a second wave despite a slower increase in daily new cases.
With 152 new infections confirmed by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) late Sunday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the West African country has reached 65,148.
The new infections on Sunday were reported from seven states across the country, and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, with no fresh COVID-19 related deaths.
However, the data released by the NCDC indicated a total of 1,163 deaths and 61,073 recoveries so far recorded. The public health agency disclosed there are 2,912 active cases across the country.
Nigeria recorded its index case in Lagos, the economic hub, on February 27. The NCDC’s epidemic curve shows the country has reached its COVID-19 peak between early June and late August with a record high of 790 cases recorded on July 1. There is a downward trend in daily infections since the end of August with most of the days reporting less than 200 cases.
On November 5, Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire expressed deep concerns over the second wave of COVID-19 infections which, he said, was imminent and called for more strengthened health systems.
Ehanire said the health systems are “already overwhelmed,” noting that Lagos — being a major international travel entry point and an extensive, vibrant metropolis, with corresponding high risks — had suffered the double impact of being the most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and also the recent mass protests against reported police brutality in Nigeria, putting the resilience of the health institutions and systems to the test.
On November 4, Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, had also lamented the lack of compliance with the polymerase chain reaction test protocol by about 65 percent of Nigerians returning to the country recently.
Likewise, the state government of Lagos warned residents that the continuous disregard of COVID-19 protocols and safety guidelines could lead to the second wave of new infections in the state.
In a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, John Oladejo, the director of the health emergency, preparations, and response, at the NCDC, said the public health agency is working hard to block the second wave of COVID-19 infections.
“Concerning whether there is going to be a second wave, we are working hard to ensure that we prevent that. You will recall that there were recent protests and many people were gathering together. If anyone of them had the COVID-19, it means it could spread all over.”
“Because of that, we at the NCDC had to double up on this and we trained community volunteers to ensure that if there is anybody that has any symptoms of this, they will be quickly picked up, tested, and then take them for treatment,” Oladejo said.
The health official said among other measures that are being taken to prevent the second wave, the agency tries to ensure that the people in the community are being sensitized on non-pharmaceutical interventions,” so that they will know that they need to use their face masks anytime they are in a gathering combined with social distancing and that they wash their hands regularly with soap when they come in contact with anything that could be contaminated or not.”
“We have so many of our experts in the field now. We are working tirelessly to ensure that a second wave does not occur,” he added.

• As of 1st November 2020, a total of 1,084 confirmed cases have been recorded including 63 deaths, 10 active cases, and 1,011 recoveries in the three states. Planning has commenced in Adamawa State for the training of NYSC staff to help in sample collection.

• SMS cycle 4 implementation was delayed due to late arrival of the drugs. The state, partners and stakeholders have agreed to commence cycle 4 door-to-door administration of the drugs to eligible children from 17th of November, 2020.

• The sector has also finalized its PiN to be 5.8M across the BAY states (Borno: 2.87M; Adamawa: 1.8M; and Yobe: 1.13M), the estimated target is 5.26M across the BAY states (Borno: 2.67M; Adamawa: 1.68M; and Yobe: 0.92M). The financial requirement to meet the stated needs is estimated at $105.3M.

• So far so good, the sector has been able to reach 2.7M people in 2020 with Basic Primary Health Services across all sites which includes, IDP Camps, Health Facilities, and Host Communities.

• A total of 65 Primary Health Care Centres in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe State (BAY states) (Borno: 26 HFs, Adamawa: 26 HFs, Yobe: 13 HFs) have been provided with supplies (essential psychotropic drugs, mhGAP registers and patient appointment cards) to support treatment of patients with mental health disorders by trained PHC workers at the PHC levels.