The fear of being infected by
the dreaded corona virus
seems to be the beginning
of wisdom these days as the
entire world grabbles to find a vaccine
to curb its spread.
What started like a child’s play in the
relatively unknown city of Wuhan in
China when the virus known as 2019-
nCoV, killing dozens of residence, has
now grown to a global emergency,
with the World Health Organization
Director General declaring the virus
a Public Health Emergency of Inter-
national Concern(PHEIC).
Coronavirus are normally transmit-
ted between animals and people. A
novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new
strain of the virus that has not been
previously identified in humans.
Within weeks of its out-break, the
entire city of Wuhan was quarantine
with residence forced to stay indoors.
All commercial and recreational ac-
tivities virtually came to a halt as
health professionals battled day and
night to curtain the spread of the dis-
ease.
The Chinese Centre for Disease
Control and Prevention said that the
virus is about 20 times more dead-
ly than the flu, with a fatality rate of
about 2.3%. There are over 73,336
confirmed coronavirus cases with
over 2000 deaths linked to the virus.
Aside China, according to the
Times, the virus has currently spread
to 28 countries of the world, includ-
ing one confirmed patient in Egypt,
North Africa.
Just last week the Minister of
Health, Prof. Osagie Ehanire assured
Nigerians that the ministry was ready
to contain the disease should it break
out in Nigeria. He said the country
had learnt a lot of lessons from the
Ebola episode of 2014, adding that
there are adequate facilities on stand-
by in Lagos State to contain an out-
break of the disease.
As at the time of going to press, we
gathered that security at the nation’s
airports have been tightened with
high presence of bio-security teams
and health officials placed on alert
to screen travelers coming into the
country.
In the past few weeks there have
been heightened tension in the coun-
try following rumours of large pres-
ence of Chinese nationals having
symptoms of the virus in a location
in Lagos State. This has however been
debunked by health officials who, af-
ter thorough investigation, classified
such as fake news.
However, there are many who are
not very comfortable with by the
positive sentiments expressed by the
Health Minister in view of the deadly
nature of the virus which has defied
any known cure. This fear is further
heightened by several unconfirmed
fake videos that have gone viral on
the social media showing purported
killing by state officials of those con-
firmed to have been infected with the
virus in China. Some of the uncon-
firmed and gory on-line videos also
claim that the casualties arising from
the virus have largely been underre-
ported by the main stream media.
The suspected fake videos depict very
somber situations that have so far
over-whelmed science.
Be that as it may, Nigerians are not
taking any chances. Though most
claim times are hard, non wants to
take the chance of being knocked
down flat by a disease without put-
ting in a good fight. And so, they have
become more conscious of the need
to attend to their health and avoid
over-crowded places. Those selling
face masks are making brisk busi-
nesses as thousands make conscious
effort to buy and wear the mask while
working down the streets. Like dur-
ing the Ebora saga, there is now a re-
newed effort by Lagosians to avoid all
forms of interaction with bush meat,
most especially rat, a known purveyor
of Lassa fever which is still ravishing
parts of the country.
There is currently no vaccine to pre-
vent coronavirus disease 2019 (COV-
ID-19). The best way to prevent illness
is to avoid being exposed to this dis-
ease.
The following are everyday preven-
tive actions to help prevent the spread
of respiratory diseases, including:
• Avoid close contact with people
who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose,
and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with
a tissue, then throw the tissue in the
trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently
touched objects and surfaces using a
regular household cleaning spray or
wipe.
• Use a facemask.
• Wash your hands often with soap
and water for at least 20 seconds, es-
pecially after going to the bathroom;
before eating; and after blowing your
nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap
and water are not readily available,
use an alcohol-based hand sanitiz-
er with at least 60% alcohol. Always
wash hands with soap and water if
hands are visibly dirty.
