By Oluwabukola Akanni
Ibadan – An Epidemiologist, Dr Akinfemi Akinyode, has advised state governments to strengthen infectious disease emergency response plan for rapid containment and prevention of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Akinyode of the Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health in Oyo State, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ibadan.
He commended the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on its preparedness and response toward checking the disease, adding that “the onus was still on the individual state governments to ensure that COVID-19 does not become an epidemic in the country.
“While we hope that there won’t be severe spread of the virus, it is important to note that the disease does not have boundaries.
“Each state government should plan ahead and evaluate current level of preparedness, assess risk of spread, plug loopholes and identify gaps rather than wait until there is a case in their states.
“It is important that each state government frees up resources and have designated fund so that bureaucratic bottleneck does not hinder response.
“Right now, each state government should have designated ambulances and ready-made isolation centres to ensure that any outbreak is quickly controlled and contained.”
The epidemiologist also advised healthcare workers to follow standard infection control precautions when attending to patients, stressing that “healthcare workers must comply with universal protection precautions in treating and interacting with patients.
“These include wearing protective clothing, use of gloves, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and regular hand washing with soap and water.
“The importance of regular hand washing with soap under running water cannot be overemphasised, everybody must imbibe this, not only health workers.
“Travel history of anyone who comes in sick must also be establised as precaution.”
He also advised people who are sick to avoid going to public places like Churches and Mosques but to stay at home when infected.
According to him, coronavirus spread from one person to another through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
“If you are coughing or sneezing, maintain a distance of at least two metres from other people to protect them.
“Touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching your own mouth can also lead to infection,” he said.
NAN reports that COVID-19 first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019, has spread to 59 countries, killed more than 2,900 people and more than 85,000 worldwide infected, causing global panic.
The World Health Organisation had on Friday warned that the outbreak was getting bigger and raised global risk to highest level of alert.
(NAN)