The World Health Organisation (WHO) Thursday called on Nigerians not to abandon the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) safety protocols against COVID-19, saying the records of daily confirmed cases are indication of ongoing community transmission.
WHO Emergency Manager, Northeast Nigeria, Doctor Richard Lako, represented by Public Health Officer, Dr. Ibrahim Salisu, stated this in Damaturu while embarking on risk communication awareness in some local government councils in Yobe state.
“The Yobe state government with support from World Health Organization and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has significantly ramp-up sample collection and testing across the state. So we continue to see new confirmed cases of COVID-19 which is indicating an ongoing community transmission.
The Ministry of Health and WHO have continued to lead the efforts to scale up COVID-19 response activities across all pillars. Just yesterday, we concluded the training of 60 healthcare workers on COVID-19 home base care and infection prevention and control, while additional 25 community health champions to strengthen communities and house- to- house sensitisation were carried out,” he said.
Investigations by Blueprint reveals some of the safety measures such as hand washing and wearing of face masks were gradually diminishing with most of the items either absent or no longer put to use, a situation that prompted the Yobe state government and WHO to engage more risk communication officers in Nguru and Potiskum local government councils to create more awareness.
Yobe state which recently recorded 15 new cases of the disease, as at Thursday June 3, 2021, now has 444 confirmed cases, 9 deaths while only 41 are on admission across the state.
