Sifau A. Adejumo. Nigeria
16/04/2020
Sifau Adenike Adejumo, PhD in Environmental Biology with a specialization in Environmental Crop Physiology. She was part of the Science by Women programme and carried out her research at the Spanish National Centre for Biotechnology (CNIO)
Just an update on the current state of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
On February 28, 2020, Nigeria woke up to the news of her first Corona virus case, but this case didn’t affect the citizens of our great country, Nigeria as everyone went about their daily activities without being bothered though it was all over the news.
Not until mid March when the second case was announced did Nigerians had causes to be bothered.
By the end of March, the cases already increased exponentially to around 100 cases and this exponential increase caused various activities to be suspended.
For this cause, diverse rules and regulations were enacted by the Federal government most especially on gatherings in other to curb the spread of this deadly virus.
Parties and night clubs were suspended, religious gatherings of more than 20 were banned.
Panics everywhere, increased fear spreading like wild fire even more than the virus itself.
The road is quiet and silent, everyone taking refuge in their respective homes.
Everyday, there is news of increased number of cases.
The virus has no regard for positions and personalities as high government officials tested positive to the virus.
The day to day activities of Nigerians became handicapped as some states like Lagos, Ogun and Abuja declared total lock down while others like my state here, declared curfew from 7pm to 7am.
Religious centres have been forced to close down and everyone is to worship from their various homes.
School activities have been suspended and every student is encouraged to carry out virtual learning.
Social distancing is enforced by the Federal government so as to curb the spread of this virus.
As at today, 10th of April, we have 288 cases of Corona virus, 51 recovered cases and 7 deaths according to the NCDC, the Nigeria centre for disease control, of which about three out of the death cases had underlying health issues. Nigerians are encouraged to take various precautions such as the use of hand sanitizers, regular hand washing, nose covering especially while sneezing, good personal hygiene and most importantly social distancing.
But despite the havoc COVID-19 is causing, we Nigerians choose to remain positive and optimistic during this season and we are using the “stay at home” period to bond with our families and learn new skills.
What gladdens our heart is that as the cases are increasing, the rate of recovery is also increasing and this gives us hope.
One thing we really hope and pray is that the number of cases starts to decrease, and that this night mare will be over.
We can’t wait to return to our daily activities and to have back our normal, stabilized world.