Nigeria may have yet again achieved zero COVID-19 coronavirus patient with the second patient, who earlier tested positive but with no symptoms has now tested negative. This second case – one of those who were quarantined after having been in contact with the Italian index case – will be discharged from intensive care after spending 14 days of observation and follow up with no symptoms.
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This news came shortly after the announcement that the Italian who came into the country bearing the virus is making good progress and should be released from hospital next week. This was made known by the minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, who broke the news in Abuja on Friday morning.
Nigeria’s index case of the COVID-19 coronavirus flew into the country from Italy, which has the highest record of the disease in Europe, on February 24. By late February, 39 people who were reported to have had contact with the Italian as soon as he climbed down from the airplane were traced and tested. Reports from the daily briefing of the health minister and the Director General of NCDC, Dr. Chike Obi, also revealed that the search for those who were aboard the Turkish Airline flight that brought him to the country commenced and were also quarantined immediately.
The health minister also mentioned that in line with global best practice as stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has to ensure that samples be taken from all contacts of the index case for testing. If this had not been done, this second case, which has now been declared negative after tests, would not have been discovered in the first place.
Campaigns for proper hygienic practices such as washing of the hands, sneezing into the armpits to avoid spreading the virus by carriers, keeping a meter of distance away from people who are sneezing or coughing, screening at the airports and points of entry into the country, as well as taking heed to call the designated toll free lines all seemed to have been effective in reducing the onset of the highly contagious virus in Nigeria.
All of this clearly shows a level of pragmatism and preparedness in governance and disaster management which is not commonplace in the country. It is also worthy of note that in Nigeria, excellence is not that much far-fetched. We can do greater things and even surpass the achievements of a greater nation if only we band together in unity and seriously go about the business of moving our country forward.
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Some Nigerians still have that genuine belief that if this virus which has similar behaviour with the Swine flu, H1N1, MERS, SARS and other older variants in the Coronavirus family were to take a foothold in Nigeria, our health infrastructure might never be able to absorb the pressure as China, Singapore and other few countries did. Currently, the United States and a few other countries such as Britain, Italy, Denmark, even with advanced healthcare systems are having a hard time containing the spread of the virus. Therefore, prevention and early containment seems to be the strategy currently in deployment by all the levels of government departments, ministries and parastatals involved in the containment programme.
As much as we can hope that the handling of the COVID-19 virus did not go out of hand anytime soon, this is also a time to indulge a brief sigh and congratulate the entire country for taking heed and winning the first round of the fight against a deadly virus – as we did against the Ebola virus in 2014.
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