Nigeria may experience a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said.
He disclosed this at the ongoing media briefing with reporters organised by the National Youth Service Corps on Monday.
The DG said the country must abide by the protocols and guidelines developed to avoid a second wave of the virus.
He warned that the virus was still around and more dangerous despite the drop in recorded cases.
Nigeria’s total COVID-19 cases hit 61,558 on Monday as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed 118 new cases.
The infections were recorded in nine states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NCDC on its official Twitter handle, also announced the discharge of 86 patients from isolation centres in the country.
It said Lagos recorded the highest number of cases with 55, while Rivers had 26 cases.
Imo followed with 12 cases, while Osun confirmed 8 cases.
Other states with new infections are Plateau, 6, FCT, 5, Kaduna, 4, Ogun, 3, Edo, 2, and Niger, 1.
NCDC further stated that 56,697 persons have been managed and discharged, adding that 1,125 persons have died of the disease.
Government and tertiary institutions in Abia State have been directed to reopen for academic activities with effect from Monday, October 26, 2020.
Okezie Ikpeazu, the Governor of Abia State made the approval in a release made available to newsmen, by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, on Monday.
The Governor also directed heads of all tertiary institutions to ensure total compliance with all COVID-19 protocols in line with the guidelines submitted to them for the reopening of their institutions.
The management of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, has announced that it has fumigated the premises of the institution ahead of the resumption of students.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 179 new COVID-19 infections and 1116 fatalities in the country.
NCDC disclosed this in a Tweet on Wednesday.
It said Nigeria’s total number of confirmed cases is now 60,834.
Lagos recorded the highest number of cases with 116, followed by Anambra with 20.
The tweets reads, “179 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;
Lagos-116, Anambra-20, FCT-9, Oyo-9, Rivers-9, Delta-3, Nasarawa-3, Edo-2, Kaduna-2, Ogun-2, Plateau-2, Ekiti-1, Osun-1
“60,834 confirmed, 52,143 discharged, 1,116 deaths.”
The Federal Ministry of Health has urged Nigerians to visit and utilise the newly deployed health platform to report issues around COVID -19 and other infectious diseases in their various locations.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Abdulaziz Abdullahi , stated this while receiving COVID – 19 sensitisation materials , donated by the Institute of Electrical Electronic Engineers Young Professionals, Nigeria Section , as part of measures to stem the pandemic .
The Pemanent Secretary , who received 1 ,000 posters from the institute in Abuja on behalf of the Federal Government , urged “ Nigerians to imbibe safe care- seeking behaviour and visit the new platform , www . hpd . health. gov , to report health issues .”
A statement by the institute quoted Abdullahi to have said, “ This step by Nigerians will assist the government to keep track of COVID -19 , infectious and non -infectious diseases in Nigeria. ”
The IEEE Nigeria Section Chairman , John Adebayo, noted that the government needed to be assisted to flatten the curve , adding that the “ importance of strong partnership to addressing the containment of COVID – 19 and promote healthy initiatives in Nigeria .”
As the Nigerian airspace opens up gradually for international travels, measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of all passengers entering or leaving Nigeria as the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.
Such measures include the launch of the Nigerian International Travel Portal (NITP) by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF-COVID-19) with support from the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19(CACOVID).
The portal, which is currently hosted on the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) website houses a list of mandatory protocols that travellers must undergo.
The protocol requires that all persons arriving in Nigeria must have tested negative for COVID-19 having undergone a PCR test in the country of departure pre-boarding.
The test, however, must be done within 96 hours before departure and preferably 72 hours pre-boarding. Additionally, passengers will be required to pay for the repeat COVID-19 PCR test on arrival in Nigeria.
The repeat test will take place 7 days after arrival within which strict adherence to self-isolation rules must be observed. Also, travelers are compelled to fill in the online Health Declaration/Self-Reporting form and submit online or print out for presentation on arrival.
The payments and the registration will be done via the Nigerian International Travel Portal online: https://nitp.ncdc.gov.ng/onboarding/homepage
“Before boarding, passengers must upload their COVID-19 PCR negative results on to the national payment portal and bring along an electronic or hard copy of the result for presentation at the airport, while at the time of boarding, all travelers will undergo thermal screening for fever and questioned for symptoms of COVID-19,” the protocol said.
On arrival in Nigeria, travelers will go through the routine Port Health screening and present electronic or print-out Access Report sent to their emails for verification and approval by the Port Health Officials. Any traveler who develops symptoms during this exercise will immediately be placed in institutional quarantine where appropriate care will be administered.
If any of the passengers that are deported tests positive for COVID-19, all his close primary contacts will be required to undergo enhanced screening and a follow-up PCR test if necessary.
The protocol warns that passengers who fail to show up for a repeat test after 7 days may attract sanctions such as suspension of passports or inclusion on a travel no-fly list for 6 months, and denied foreign travel for the same period. It also revealed that airlines would be fined $3,500 per passenger for failure to comply with the pre-boarding requirements.
To get more information on the travel guidelines, visit here. CACOVID is a private sector alliance aimed at supporting the government to eradicate coronavirus from Nigeria. To join CACOVID in the fight against coronavirus, Call 09045531044 or email supportcacovid@actrustfoundation.org. You can also follow them on all platforms @cacovidng for more information.