A healthcare research scientist, Dr. Oladipo Kolawole, says Nigeria should be worried about the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in India, noting that the country must do whatever is necessary to prevent the importation of the Indian variant.
Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise on Tuesday, Kolawole, who is a lecturer at the Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, said Nigeria must step up surveillance activities to ensure that new COVID-19 variants are not imported into the country, stressing that the nation’s health system cannot withstand the challenge India is presently dealing with.
Recall that the National Incident Manager, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Mukhtar Mohammed had, at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, rolled out new preventive measures aimed at preventing the spread of new COVID-19 variants in the country.
The new measures include a nationwide curfew that would run from 12 midnight till 4 am daily, reduction of gatherings at worship centres and weddings to 50 per cent capacity, enforcement of all the non-pharmaceutical preventive measures and enforcement of a mandatory requirement of a seven-day quarantine for all international passengers.
Kolawole said that all the measures should be supported as they are aimed at preventing the importation and spread of new COVID-19 variants in the country.
“We should be worried about the B.1.617 COVID-19 variant because that is the variant that is causing havoc in India.
“Our healthcare system is not strong enough to handle the situation they are presently dealing with in India, Brazil, and Turkey,” he said.
Kolawole also called for improved COVID-19 testing in the country. “The decision to have a new restriction is very necessary for such a time like this, but don’t forget that the COVID-19 testing has reduced so we need to test more.
“The more we test, the more we see cases. We have been testing more symptomatic individuals, whereas we have asymptomatic carriers too,” he said.
The research scientist also condemned the disregarding of safety protocols by some incoming flight passengers, noting that the reports that some of them are violating quarantine directives were bad for the nation.
“We need to put proper measures in place to see that all passengers observed the appropriate quarantine measures depending on where they are coming from.
“All necessary checks like temperature, travel history, COVID-19 RT-PCR results among others should be considered compulsory for all travellers and no one should be exempted from all these procedures,” he said.
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