No state is free of COVID-19 yet in Nigeria — FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria yesterday declared that no state in Nigeria was free of COVID-19 amid claims by some states government that they were free of the pandemic.







Declaring this during the Presidential Task Force, PTF, briefing on COVID-19 pandemic in Abuja, the Director- General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said there was nothing to be ashamed of about recording coronavirus cases in a state as the disease remain a global pandemic.










Ihekweazu urged states frustrating testing effort to desist from it in the interest of the general public.







“No state in Nigeria is COVID-19 free and no country in the world can confidently claim to be COVID-19 free. It is a global pandemic and we can’t separate ourselves from the world.















“It is not a shame to have positive cases in your state; denial will only make the issue more difficult. If we do not know the status of your people, you are indirectly putting the lives of your people and that of health workers at risk. The implication of that is the likely collapse of your health system.







“Rather than avoiding testing, kindly make your state available, so the country can collectively move forward. C OVID-19 is here with us, we need to fight it and the best way to do that is to know the current situation of things.”













Corroborating his views, the PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, urged Nigerians to make themselves available for testing to ascertain their COVID-19 status, saying that early detection safe lives.








“I, therefore, urge Nigerians to make use of these facilities and get tested. Similarly, I implore us not to be afraid of undertaking the COVID-19 test. Testing positive for COVID-19 is not a death sentence, but failure to test; especially when symptoms are evident could result in death as it may be too late once the symptoms become full-blown. The loss of any Nigerian is not only painful but most avoidable provided we seek help early.