The national coordinator of the presidential task force on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, has alleged that people being smuggled out of Lagos are responsible for the current spread of the virus across states in Nigeria.
According to Aliyu, the task force is worried about the reports of individuals being smuggled out of Lagos in trucks in contravention of the lockdown order.
While giving updates on the progression of COVID-19 in the country, Aliyu said inter-state travel is aiding the community spread of the virus.
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Although several states have banned interstate travel, there have been reports of people still moving between one state and the other; especially between Lagos and Oyo, while bribing security officials posted to prevent such travel in the first place.
The task force coordinator appealed to Nigerians to limit their travels if the country hopes to contain the spread of the virus.
“I will like to talk on travel restrictions and to reemphasize the need for people to stay at home especially in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun. I would also like to note the issue of people travelling in-between states, inter-state travel. We have noticed that community spread is now being traced to people travelling across state borders.
We need to try and restrict our movement in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This is particularly pertinent with regards to news of people being smuggled in trucks out of Lagos which is quite concerning to us.” he said.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Enahire as well as the DG of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Chikwe Ihekweazu spoke against stigmatisation of people who have tested to COVID-19.
They said stigmatisation was hampering government’s effort to contain the virus as such people will run away from treatment.
“People have been asking questions, where are the people with COVID-19 living? What part of town are they? Of course, everyone is anxious and frightened. Unfortunately, this anxiety seems to be leading to stigmatisation
“When the HIV hit our world, we did the same thing. But this is an infection, it doesn’t get to you because you have done anything bad or you have committed a crime. It is not karma, it is just a virus.
“The people with this virus have children, wives, family members. They need to be respected. It affects their mental well being if we as a society are stigmatising them.
“It is preventing our work from happening because contacts are choosing not to come forward, to hide, to run away, because we have started stigmatising them. What makes us a great nation is our humanity.
If we start stigmatising people because of an infection, it will not only disrupt all the great work being done across the country but it will have a profound impact on our ability to control this outbreak and our ability to get back to life.
“What will happen is that people will go underground, they won’t come out for testing, infect others and the cycle will continue. All these things are connected.”
The Minister for Health, Ehanire thereafter said:
“The next phase of our strategy in the health sector due to the available evidence of community transmission in Nigeria, now focuses on community response rather than individual travellers and their contacts in the society. There will be more community testing.
“COVID-19 outbreak seems to have provoked some social stigma and rejection of anyone thought to have been in contact with the virus as well as their caregivers, families, friends who may be stereotyped and discriminated against.
“This is not necessary because stigma can prompt social isolation of persons or groups and drive people to hide the illness and prevent them from seeking healthcare immediately.
“This could cause a situation where the virus is more likely to spread and increase difficulty of controlling the outbreak response.”
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