As Nigeria grapples with the challenge of a looming threat of third wave of COVID-19 hitting the country, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and a renowned professor of Virology and infectious disease control, Prof. Olawale Tomori, have cautioned the federal government not to allow complacency to stall measures being taken to check the outbreak of a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that averting the scourge goes beyond just issuing travel advisory.
They noted that the most important steps would be the enforcement and implementation of the measures put in place.
They however commended the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 on the recently issued international travel advisory and the re-introduction of restrictions, all aimed at averting the third wave of the infection.
NMA’s President, Prof. Innocent stated that the federal government should ensure adequate enforcement and monitoring of the measures it recently announced to check the importation of a more deadly variant of COVID-19 virus from other countries.
“I want to say that NMA is very happy and we commend federal government for taken proactive steps to respond to the threat of a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, by issuing timey health advisory regarding those passengers coming from Turkey, India and Brazil.
“This is a very commendable effort because this is what we had advocated for early in 2020 shortly before COVID-19 came in, that we should close our borders so that we don’t have any importation of the virus, but unfortunately before they did that, it was late and therefore many of our people got infected. However, this time , the advisory note issued by the federal government is very important and NMA commends it,” he said..
The NMA boss spoke on the aspect of the travel restrictions contained in the government’s COVID-19 health advisory, describing it as good decision.
He, however pointed out that the authorities should not stop at that but should ensure that the recommended health protocols be strictly enforced to make the response effective.
While assessing the measures rolled out by the federal government, Tomori said the steps were good but needed to be embraced by all the citizens for it to be more effective in checking the spread of COVID-19.
“For now, the measures are okay. The need for additional measures depends on whether we, the citizens collaborate with government in adhering to the guidelines or not. We should get involved and play an active role by encouraging and ensuring the participation of every citizen.
“The government has already suspended flights from some countries. I am sure the situation is being monitored by the government,” he added.
Source: ThisDay