The Federal Government has advised Nigerians to adhere to the coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols to prevent the further spread of the disease in the country, Nature News gathered.
Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, made the call while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Thursday on the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Abubakar said that it was important to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols as it would protect and save Nigerians from the deadly disease.
“We remind ourselves that Nigeria is witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 infection going by the records of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). This resurgence, the second wave as it is known is hitting countries and territories with varying degrees of impact.
“The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has been advocating to Nigerians to observe safety provisions in the protocol for COVID-19 control in the country.
“In the wake of the resurgence, the Federal Ministry of Environment has already begun terminal environmental decontamination/ disinfection of premises where COVID-19 cases have been recorded stemming out of requests from such quarters.
“We as a ministry are determined to continue to support the Federal Government’s coordinated response to the pandemic. As previously done, the ministry is poised to once again render qualitative services,” he said.
Abubakar recalled that the ministry being one of the line COVID-19 response ministries, proactively mobilised the general public at the inception of the infection earlier this year to understand the nature, mode of spread and control measures of the disease.
He said that the whole maintenance of sterility of premises, containments, dwellings, offices were the main objective of the ministry’s decontamination and disinfection intervention.
The minister said that the efforts were to ensure that users of such environments would be safe-guarded from letting in the virus and other microbes into their systems.
“It is once more necessary to re-echo the need for Nigerians to adhere strictly to provisions of the COVID-19 control protocol as the main barriers of the virus spread.
“To this end, hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, avoidance of crowd, physical distancing, also, terminal and concurrent decontamination/disinfection must continue to be adopted by all and sundry.
“It is my firm conviction that decontamination/disinfection as acclaimed by international standards, is contributing immensely to the containment of the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria,’’ he said.
He appealed to Nigerians to embrace the safe utilisation of decontamination formulations and administration by engaging only licensed environmental health practitioners for decontamination/ disinfection services as an efficient non- pharmaceutical COVID-19 control measure.
“Against this backdrop, the ministry is thanking Mr. President for effectively addressing internal security. We also appreciate the efforts of government in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
“It is our prayer and hope that this second wave of the pandemic will be promptly controlled effectively. We are grateful to the media for their continuous support and cooperation,’’ the minister said.
