COVID-19: Inter-state travels worsening community transmission

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic has raised the alarm over the escalation of community transmission of the disease by those moving across state borders.

National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr Sani Aliyu, who raised the alarm during Thursday’s edition of the daily media briefing by the task force in Abuja, particularly pointed at the mass smuggling of people out of Lagos State in trucks.

Dr Aliyu, however, appealed to Nigerians to take federal government and some states’ lockdown order seriously, noting the fight to beat back to pandemic in the country depended largely on how much attention and respect the public give to the guidelines issued by the PTF.

He also called on donors of palliative materials to observe basic health and safety protocols, asking them to rather work through local authorities so as to make processes orderly and less hazardous.

“We have noticed that community spread is now being traced to people traveling across state borders. We need to try and restrict our movements in order to stop the spread of this Coronavirus infection; this is particularly pertinent with regards to the news of people being smuggled in trucks out of Lagos.

“I’ll like to highlight the need for donors to safeguard life and basic health protocols during the distribution of palliatives within local communities.

“It is important that they maintain health and safety, the rise of aggressive behaviour and non-conformity to physical distancing is unacceptable and a major risk to our communities. It is serious public safety concern.

“I enjoin donors to work closely with local authorities and to ensure that the mass gathering restrictions and the physical distancing guidance that we have given is abided by”, he said.

He also reminded donors, who already had plans to support the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, of the need to work through the PTF, to ensure that items and resources being donated are relevant to needs and to be sure that goods being donated are not below standards.

He sent the same message of ensuring acquisition of standard supplies to state governments, especially when it gets to the issue of procuring protective gears for the frontline healthcare workers in their states.

He said the PTF would soon come out with standard guidelines, which would derive from global and World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, for the equipment and protective gears expected to be provided for the ongoing fight.

He also encouraged survivors to be bold to come out with their story, at their own discretion, this he said would help crush the rising public stigma and discrimination, which have been noticed to be a major concern and impediment in the fight against the disease.

©TheNation