Nigeria at High Risk of Coronavirus Infection, Says NTS

 

Nigerian Thoracic Society (NTS) on Monday said Nigeria is a high-risk country for the Coronavirus disease, saying the epidemic ravaging some parts of China remains a serious health threat to the country (Nigeria).

The organisation stated in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, that the federal government should not dismiss the likely spread of the Coronavirus disease in the country as Nigeria hosts thousands of Chinese nationals with hundreds of Nigerians also regularly traveling to China for various engagements.

The Society in a statement jointly signed by the National President, Professor Prince Ele, and Secretary, Dr. Victor Umoh, lauded the role of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for information dissemination and mobilising Nigerians to response in epidemic issues in the country.

Accordingly, the NTS tasked the NCDC not to relent but to continue to rapidly create awareness on protective and precautionary measures among health workers and the public.

 

In addition, the body urged the Nigerian public to observe basic universal health safety measures and should remain calm, recommending some general safety rules to reduce exposure and transmission of diseases in the country.

Such safety measures, the NTS listed, included frequently washing of hands by using water and soap or alcohol-based hand sanitizer, covering of the mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing as well as avoiding close contact with anyone who has fever and cough.

The Society called on Nigerians to also cook animal products thoroughly before consumption, stressing that anyone who is ill with fever, couch, and having difficulty breathing must seek medical attention immediately.

Urging Nigerians to always disclose their previous travel history to health care providers, the body insisted that those who visit livestock markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel Coronavirus should avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals.

It explained that the China Coronavirus epidemic is caused by a new virus provisionally called 2019-nCov, a corona virus that started in Wuhan, a city in China.

The disease, the body said, has rapidly spread beyond the borders of China to many other nations, including the United States, and a suspected case in Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa, with the principal victims alleged to be travelers to China.

The Society maintained that the typical symptoms of the disease is respiratory in nature, including: shortness of breath, cough, and pneumonia.

“Fever is quite common, and fatality may occur and the infection spreads from person to person by coughing and sneezing,” the group said, hinting that there was no specific treatment or vaccine for the disease.