A medical expert, Dr. Wilson Ofobor, has advised Nigerians to take the lockdown and restriction aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the country seriously, as the nation’s infrastructure cannot cope with widespread infections of the disease.
In a chat with Real-Time24, Dr. Ofobor said, “Nigerians should adhere strictly to the measures issued by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the lockdown and restriction of movement directives by the federal and state governments to curb the spread of the virus.”
He stated that it becomes “Irresistibly incumbent on the people to pay the price of the restriction and lockdown, maintaining decent personal hygiene and social distancing because cure for the deadly disease is yet to be found. “Consider the impact of widespread cases of the disease would have on the country’s health infrastructure vis-a-vis the challenges faced by medical personnel in carrying out the duties. Reflect on these issues and weigh them with your ‘daily hustling’ and you will understand that the price of staying at home and observing the personal hygiene measures is lower,” he said.
Dr. Ofobor compared Nigeria to Canada which he said has been able to manage the spread of the virus relatively better than the United States of America because of the strict measures adopted, and “the very effective health system”. He said that COVID-19 statistics in Canada; in spite of the country’s sophisticated health sector show 28,379 confirmed cases, 8,979 recoveries and 1,010 deaths. He noted that just a province in Canada – British Columbia has reserved over 4,600 hospital bed spaces for possible upsurge of the disease – a province with just a population of 5 million. “In which way can this be compared to Nigeria, where only Lagos State has a population of about 21 million? The consequences of a widespread of the virus would be unfathomable to Nigeria,” he said.
Dr. Ofobor therefore, advised Nigerians in their interest, that of the nation and humanity at large to adhere strictly to the measures rolled out by the various government agencies to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.