COVID-19: Nigeria Reaching A Critical Level Where Hospitals Can No Longer Cope – NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that Nigeria is reaching a critical level where hospitals can no longer cope with more serious COVID-19 cases.

In a tweet on Monday, the NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said health workers would be forced to make tough decisions, calling for the protection of vulnerable citizens amid the rising cases of the virus.

“We are reaching a critical level where our hospital capacity will no longer be able to cope with more serious COVID-19 cases and health workers will be forced to make tough decisions. We need to protect our more vulnerable citizens,” he tweeted.

“We all have to take responsibility. This is not for the NCDC, the PTF or government alone. By organising large gatherings indoors, you’re not only putting yourself and guests at risk but also the staff who have limited choice but to serve. By going to clubs, you’re putting your parents at risk.”

The NCDC boss said a number of coronavirus cases reported in the country had been on the rise in the last four weeks.

According to Ihekweazu, Nigerians must note that the 100,000 persons that contracted COVID-19 in the last 11 months were not just figures but persons.

“In the last four weeks, we‘ve recorded a spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases. The virus is spreading fast, causing mild symptoms in some and severe illness/death in others.

“Most important of all, the 100,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths are not just numbers. These are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, friends whose deaths will be mourned and the pain of their loss deeply felt. The response starts and ends with the people of this country,” he said.

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Meanwhile, the federal government has released a ‘provisional quarantine protocol’ for travellers arriving into Nigeria amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nigeria, currently battling the pandemic’s second wave, crossed the 100,000-mark for COVID-19 infections late Sunday, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

With more cases expected to be imported from abroad, the federal government is seeking to tighten the nation’s borders.

The protocol, signed by Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF), requires travellers to perform a COVID-19 test not more than four days before boarding their flight into Nigeria.

Travellers must also ensure to register via an online national travel portal (Nigeria International Travel Portal – https://nitp.ncdc.gov.ng), where they are required to fill a questionnaire and pay for a second COVID-19 test to be carried out seven days after arriving in Nigeria.