Why COVID-19 cases are rising in Nigeria

Boss Mustapha, Chairman Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 has said the government’s goal is to ultimately “flatten the curve” of the virus in the country.
Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said this at the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 news briefing on Friday in Abuja.
He said to achieve this, the government needed the full understanding and cooperation of all Nigerians.
He said the PTF has received feedback from Nigerians on the challenges of the lockdown and the PTF was doing its best to ensure that palliatives reach all deserving persons with ease in the country.
He assured Nigerians that arrangements were also in top gear to expand the palliatives.
The SGF also said the Federal Government has developed a Protocol on points of entry to guide the process of return/evacuation of Nigerians stranded abroad.
He said details would be unveiled subsequently.
Mustapha used the occasion to warn Nigerians against spreading fake news.
Also speaking, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health, said the recent marked increase in number of confirmed cases in the country was traceable to the scaled-up implementation of its new case-finding strategy, as well as a result of rising community transmission.
Ehanire urged Nigerians who have fever or respiratory symptoms of unknown/unclear origin to immediately use a mask, isolate themselves from friends and family, and call the National Emergency Number 112.
The Minister said Nigerians were obliged to disclose their records to health personnel.
He said Nigerians should disregard rumours and sensationalism.
He said: “Stop spreading fake news.
“Observe all hygiene rules and take all necessary precautions.”
The Minister said all equipment the government received as donations were decontaminated before use.
“It’s a routine process for all donations,” Ehanire added.
In his contribution, the Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said one of the agency’s goals was to decentralise testing completely in the country.
Ihekweazu said the agency has developed a new strategy to scale up access to COVID-19 testing in the country, adding: “It is now up on our website: covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/resource/guide.
“So if you are interested in supporting us on testing, check it out.”
The DG said it was not in the agency’s priority at the moment to accredit private laboratories, but they have started because they needed to scale capacity.
Ihekweazu said the Africa Union has been a big supporter and enabler of the work in NCDC.
He noted that the first four Nigerians trained in COVID-19 testing were trained by the AU through the Africa Cenre for Disease Control.
The NCDC boss said it was too early to discuss cause-and-effect or make any conclusions about Nigeria’s number of deaths and number of fatalities or compare where the agency was with the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sanni Aliyu, Coordinator PTF, said it was important that as the farming season begins, farmers would be able to access their farms, farm products and fertilisers.
Aliyu said Nigerians must fight the stigmatisation of COVID-19 .
He said: “We must not shun people we know who show signs of the virus.
“Instead, we must help them to contact the authorities and seek testing and treatment.
“Dignity is a right for everybody.”
Aliyu said the PTF would continue to note increased inter-state movement that threatens to accelerate the spread of the virus.