COVID-19: NCDC Establishes Community Transmission In Abuja, Lagos, Kano

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says it has established community transmission of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)  in Abuja, Lagos and Kano states.

The NCDC Director-General, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, made the disclosure on Channels Television Station in Abuja, on Sunday.

He spoke on the backdrop of gradual lockdown ease in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states, billed to start on Monday.

Abuja, Lagos and Ogun have been locked down by President Muhammadu Buhari for five weeks in an effort to curb COVID-19 spread.

Mass movement will be gradually scaled up in the three localities from Monday but curfew will be imposed from 8.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m., while the use of face mask will be mandatory in public.

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Ihekweazu said that the agency had been working hard to increase its testing capacity, adding that the increase in the testing capacity would result in rise in the number of cases.

The director-general  said that the NCDC  had increased its laboratories across the country to 18.

He said that the NCDC modelling showed that the lockdown was successful in limiting potential wide-scale transmission of COVID-19 in the country.

He said that the lockdown enabled the agency to prepare better to tackle the pandemic.

According to him, the primary objective of the lockdown was achieved.

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He said that the gradual easing of lockdown was because the nation’s economic activities were linked to livelihoods.

“Despite best efforts of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the state governments, no response measure to control COVID-19 will be adequate until Nigerians resolve to adhere to recommended measures.

“I am confident we will get to where we want to be in the fight against the virus,” he said.

Ihekweazu hoped that Nigerians would continue to take the safety guidelines as part of their lives after COVId-19 pandemic.

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He said that since the outbreak of COVID-19, the agency had been committed to following the science, adding that it was happy about the clinical trial evidence of Remdesivir – a drug.

He said that the next step would be to work with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control to make the drug accessible. (NAN)