COVID-19: Health Sector Coalition Urges Restraint Over Attempt To Lift Ban On Public Gathering

A Health Sector Group, Health Sector Reform Coalition has raised concern over plans to lift bans of social distancing essentially to enable Christians to celebrate Easter.

In a statement jointly signed statement on Friday and sent to Solacebase,  Mike Egboh and Dr Chizoba Wonodi, the group cautioned Federal and states government to resist such temptation, insisting the deadly disease knows no religious celebration.

The Coalition applauded the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and similar decision by some governors across the country as a veritable measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), cited countries like US, Italy, Spain, the UK where the virus is presently wrecking both health facilities and devastating economic havoc.

The statement worried that with the high number of people living in poverty, high prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes (underlying diseases) and very weak health systems, it will be catastrophic if the virus spreads widely in Nigeria.

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The group, however, advocated the equitable distribution of relief material such as food items and other palliative measures already promised by the government to the less privilege in the society so as to reduce the economic burden the seat at home may be inflicting.

According to the release, ” We Implore our governors to cancel all plans or reverse the directives to lift the ban on religious and other gatherings until the NCDC and Federal Ministry of Health advises otherwise – No matter the pressure, this is not the time for populism.

” We call on the federal government and state governments to increase the delivery of economic mitigation packages to households and individuals that are in need, to reduce the pressure on people to go out for their daily living.

“Ask all Nigerians to please continue to listen to the advice of health experts represented by NCDC and WHO at this critical time. Nothing is more important than staying alive.

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” We need to remind ourselves that COVID-19 (Coronavirus) does not go to sleep at night, market days, Fridays or Sundays. Infected people without any symptoms can still transmit the virus. Over 2500 infections in France was linked to a single religious gathering while about 230 infections in South Korea were linked to a religious group where members continued gathering

“Crowd gathering should be avoided, and at all time maintain at least 2 m or 6 feet or two arm’s length of the distance between people. Religious and faith institutions are encouraged to explore means of conducting faith activities remotely/virtually (as long as required) and provide psychosocial and mental health support and resilience

“Cloth face masks might help reduce the spread by those who are infected but does not fully protect healthy people from getting infected, so continue to practice hand washing, respiratory hygiene, physical distancing and crowd avoidance even when wearing a face mask. Clean/disinfectant surfaces such as doorknobs, handles, to remove the virus.

“Actively promote attitudes and behaviours to uphold the dignity and rights of all people, and counter all forms of stigma and discrimination associated with the virus. Even if you have good immunity, you can spread it to children, the elderly and other family members who are vulnerable and more likely to die from COVID-19. States that currently have zero recorded cases are still not safe and closing state borders is not enough”.

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With over 100 members of the non-governmental actors, working to improve health care and development across every state in Nigeria, the group is according maximum regard and recognises the importance of worship and religious celebrations to us Nigerians.

It said further ” We acknowledge and value the role of religious leaders and faith-based organizations in providing spiritual support through faith for their followers in a healthy and safe environment. HSRC further appreciates the socio-economic difficulties being faced by our people over the lockdown across the country.

“Unfortunately, options are limited for now in the best ways to fight the spread. Scientific evidence and experience from developed and developing countries reinforce that avoiding crowd, physical distancing, handwashing and respiratory hygiene are still the best ways to prevent the spread and associated deaths.

“Data from the WHO and Johns Hopkins shows that 1.6 million people have tested positive and more than 95 thousand have died from COVID-19 between December 2019 to April 9, 2020. While majority of infections and deaths have been in developed countries, both infections and deaths are also rising in Africa.

“Cases in Nigeria have multiplied from one to 288 in six weeks with seven deaths. A number of states with established cases have risen from one to 17 within the same period. Trends from other countries show that without drastic measures such as maintaining lockdowns and distancing, the numbers can easily rise exponentially over a short time.

“Between February 27 and March 27, the US went from 54 to 100,522 cases while Italy went from 593 to 66,414 in one month! Because our testing is grossly inadequate, the true numbers of cases in Nigeria may be hidden. It is highly likely that community spread is happening because up to 85% of the infected may be asymptomatic yet capable of transmitting the virus. Our containment is still in the nascent stage, this is not the time to relax our guard. The couple of weeks are very critical in containing an upsurge in the number of confirmed cases”.