Opinion

Corona virus: Practice social distancing and stop the spread

By Christie Doyin
I have read and watch the issues around COVID-19 in Nigeria with trepidation, indeed, each time I read or hear of any case around it, my heart will give a kind of thud that could be heard by anyone around me. I need not start explaining or defining what Corona Virus is or what the effect on mankind has been. It has become such that the fear of Corona virus is added wisdom. My fear and general reactions got so bad that my aged mother who has been with me in the last couple of weeks would console me and lift my spirit with prayers and inspirational talks.
I couldn’t help being scared when I heard of top notchers in the society testing positive. Doctors as well as other medical officers and personnel were falling victims, falling mortally to the cruel hand of the nouveau virus that has turned pandemic and giving the whole world more than a big run for their money, medical and technological knowledge. I want to know which country of the world is not jolted, no matter how small.
My worry however is the lackadaisical attitude of most Nigerians; while some of us are worried sick and turning to God to forgive and cleanse the world, many of us are carefree to the rampaging pandemic that seems to be wiping out the world.
This becomes worrisome to me because we are aware that nations that are far advanced in medical and technological know how and better organised than us are not finding it easy managing or coping with the pandemic, which has been widely reported to have originated from China.
The Federal Government of Nigeria is sadly not helping matters, the administration has invited Chinese scientists/medical team to come n help not mindful of the fact that the could be Corona virus positive.
Right now, no country of the world is safe no matter what anyone is saying, at least not entirely. Many supposedly great and powerful nations have become helpless and seeking assistance from wherever it could come from. There are restrictions on movements, association, interactions and exposure of our sensitive parts like our mouth, nose and the face as well as how we handle things and what we use our open hands for.
One is particularly happy with the Lagos state government for being proactive in the fight against the killer virus that cut across all barriers, age, race, religion and politics. The Lagos state Governor is well deserving of accolades for the effective and result oriented approach, which was not only timely but also precise.
I think Kaduna and Oyo states are also toeing that line. Can’t say much about other states since I’m not really in the know but the case of Kwara state is giving me the jitters considering the approach and attitude of government and the governed to the lockdown and social distancing directives. From what could be deduced so far, it seems the lockdown is for certain calibre of people and not for the generality of citizens or what can one say about the flagrant disobedience of the lockdown and social distancing directive of the government by some highly placed citizens, so absurd and infuriating!
Then there are also many going about even in the face of flouting government directives, without any form of protection, face mask, hand gloves, head gear or cover and so on.
The Holy Books we all seem to be using as guide told us to obey those in authority because God put them there for whatever reason. Another important matter that calls for concern in Kwara state is the mystery surrounding the treatment, death, burial and especially the status of the allegedly suspected first case of Corona virus death of a chartered Accountant and Auditor, Alhaji Muideen Obanimomọ from a town in Kwara state, who flew into Nigeria on Friday, 20th March 2020, via Lagos, and immediately went into isolation upon his arrival because of some noticed strange feelings.
The controversy, government denial and defence are worrisome and leaving a bad taste in the mouth for citizens and sundry. What I cannot imagine is reason for the denial and variance in press releases coming from the concerned health institution.
The Kwara state government in a press statement signed by its Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, who also doubles as the spokesman of the Technical Committee on COVID-19, had allegedly described the death of the deceased as a result of a respiratory illness(?) But one of the releases from the hospital involved, where the deceased died, described the cause of his death as food poisoning.
Ajakaye through the press release reportedly stated that “The Kwara State Technical Committee on COVID-19 wishes to clarify that the state has not recorded any confirmed case of COVID-19. As of now, all the six samples tested from Kwara State have returned negative.
“The committee states that there is no fact, at this moment, to support suggestions that a male patient who died on Wednesday night at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital was a COVID-19 patient.
“Findings by the medical advisory subcommittee revealed that the patient and his wife arrived from the United Kingdom, reportedly came to Ilorin on 20th March, 2020, and went into self-quarantine without reaching out to the government or the technical committee. On the 13th day of the self-quarantine, the husband suddenly had difficulties breathing after reportedly eating dinner and was rushed to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. Efforts to resuscitate him proved abortive and he was pronounced dead” he said.
But contradicting the government position however, the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, through a twin press release signed by one Ojuawo Ayobola, the Public Relations Officer of Association of Residents Doctors UITH and another signed by the secretary of UITH MDCAN, Ilorin Kwara State.
“The Executives are aware of a possible/suspected case of COVID-19 that was admitted at the Accident and Emergency unit of the hospital on the 1st of April and died on the 2nd of April, 2020.
“While we await the results of the investigations aimed at establishing the diagnosis, all exposed members during the management of this patient have started self isolation and are currently being giving(?) all the necessary support by the ARD executives and the Epidemiology department”, Ojuawo stressed.
While on the part of MDCAN the release reads “A patient with symptoms of food poisoning who was said to have been on self isolation for 13 days following his return from the UK (hence, suspected case of COVID-19) was admitted yesterday and died at the Medical Emergency ward today, Thursday 2nd April, 2020.
“In the spirit of proactiveness by the management of the hospital, the Medical Emergency has been shut down and the process of fumigation has been initiated.
“Close contacts of the patient (doctors and nurses that attended to him and his family members) have started self-isolation while we await possible confirmation of COVID-19” it added.
However, an investigation allegedly carried out by a notable home media noted that the deceased suspected CONVID 19 patient’s cousin, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “He (deceased) self isolated with his wife in Lagos, while sending his children to temporarily stay with some relatives in other not to infect them.
“When rumours of a total lockdown of Lagos was announced, he called his friend, a Professor of medicine, who advised him to come down to Ilorin before the lockdown of Lagos which he agreed to.
“He came into Ilorin last week after being in self isolation for 3 days and was placed under treatment by his friend in his Ilorin house where several kinds of medication were administered on him.
“…One of the doctors who attended to the deceased who spoke with Fresh Insight TV from isolation said “He was brought in the account of diarrhea which was said to have lasted that day. He had come into the country two weeks ago and suspectedly has been on self isolation taking home remedies of tumeric, ginger, pineapple and lemon.
“We all thought it was a case of food poisoning until some certain symptoms like spouting blood, wheezing and others were noticed” he added.
“The hospital heads management came in latter in the afternoon to announce the case of a vivid infection and moved all the patient in the Emergency Medical to other wards so as to begin immediate provision for a fumigation” he added.
The public, whose interest the government should protect, and humanity would want the state government to come out clean on the facts surrounding the matter. The questions on the lips of citizens are if government is saying that the health and lives of citizens are not important to it? Is government staking lives of doctors, nurses and other health workers for protection of identities (which we are not really concerned about) and status of friends, associates and ‘big names’?
Knowing the facts will surely help in saving lives of all and sundry as well as give the state adequate information to work on. Pretending all is well when everything is amiss portend dangers to the state, leaving no exception in the face of catastrophe.
The good thing however is that there seems to be positive reaction from government this time around. After confirmation that the deceased was a CONVID -19 case and that the wife, who is said to be asymptomatic is positive has been isolated while those suspected to be contacts are being sought out and monitored. This is a plus on government part. With the other unrelated case discovered, I think it is apt for the state government to get all necessary testing kits on hand as well as ensure activation of the isolation centre to achieve positive results.
And again, while still giving kudos to the Kwara state government on its reported efforts towards ameliorating the effect of the lockdown on the people, I also want to urge the governor not to allow politics becloud his judgement on issues directly or indirectly affecting the wellbeing of people of the state.
As part of measures to curb the rate of increase and spread of the pandemic, I’m suggesting that it would be apt to increase the enforcement of the stay at home initiative of everyone, irrespective of rank, status or relationship, with the involvement of our religious leaders, politicians, traditional and village heads and influential individuals among others.
This way, we could put a check to the now alarming growth rate of COVID-19 in Nigeria, and Kwara state especially. For the masses, we can only best imagine the disaster looming if we turn deaf ear to those instructions from government that are important to saving our lives.
I want to add here that the state government’s ban on House to House palliative distribution of food items and money to ease the life of our people is nothing but playing politics with human lives and this should be reconsidered. Such efforts and modality will ensure social distancing and keeping safe.
For emphasis, the modality is the best we can adopt now if social distancing would be achieved to protect lives. We all know and have seen how disorderly some could be when gifts are share or distributed. Politics therefore should be set aside in all ramifications. What we need do is to encourage social distancing and when there is suspicions, we should self isolate and seek help.
My neighbour is someone I admire a lot, I learned a lesson or two from him as a result of the pandemic. Without traveling outside the state or country, he self isolated with his family, and he did that wholeheartedly, he did that for his family and himself. He obviously loves his family so much that he was not ready to take chances. His stance helped me too to practice social distancing and isolate to some extent.
Back to the Kwara suspected CONVID-19 case, there are some questions begging for answers and that include the following – The University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital stated that the deceased patient was likely to have contracted the Corona virus, why didn’t the hospital take samples for test, not just because of the late accountant but for the family, friends, relations and medical team that attended to him and the state at large; if that is erased, and the conclusion was that he died of food poisoning, why lockdown the department for fumigation as well as isolating those who had contact with the deceased; if the contact person test positive, what is government going to do since those contact persons surely have families and friends they might have been in contact with after work and what is the fate of other patients who were unfortunate to be in the hospital at that particular time? These questions are of utmost importance and thank God part of them have been answered by government.
My take is that there is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to CONVID-19 since contracting the virus was never as a result of sexual immorality, social misdemeanor or recklessness. Coming out in the open could save your life and that of many others.
Reason I’m giving the thumbs up for the lady who came out to recount her experience at the Yaba, Lagos isolation centre and how she defeated the virus just to inspire hope towards saving more lives.
She said, “I returned to Nigeria from the UK post-Commonwealth event (I totally enjoyed) & fell ill. As a responsible person, I self-isolated.
“Days after, I TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19. Before returning, I had planned several interviews, I was scheduled to start a fantastic consultancy job & was also expecting to sign a contract worth millions…
“I had to self-isolate and also inform people I came in close contact with to get tested.”
This is being upright and responsible, you will agree with me.
She thanked God and all the medical team of the Yaba isolation centre for a job well done. I think we can take a cue from her, then we will be saving lives and helping the image of the state by being proactive. She said, “Corona virus is not a death sentence, people can survive and I have”.
As an addendum, it is pertinent to keep identity of those in isolation centre under wrap if others are to be encouraged to come open.

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