The Federal Government on Nigeria, on Thursday, said that the nation has entered a second wave of the novel COVID-19 infections.
It warned that there was the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine months but also not losing the lives of the citizens.
The acting Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said this in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the task force.
Sirika was standing in for the the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who on Sunday went into self isolation, after some members of his household tested positive for the virus, though they were asymptomatic.
Mustapha and his wife, who are together on the self isolation, are not infected.
According to Sirika, the events and statistics of the last two weeks within and outside Nigeria have been very mixed, with the cheering news of the COVID-19 Vaccine, on one hand, while on the other hand, there has been spikes in number of infections at home and abroad.
“The real threat is upon humanity and the progress made in the global health sector in the last five decades or more.
“In Nigeria, the indication is that we have entered a second wave of infections and we stand the risk of not just losing the gains from the hard work of the last nine months but also not losing the precious lives of our citizens.
“The PTF believes that if we do the right things, adhere to the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) and step up our testing and detection, loss of lives will be minimized and the rising curve will begin to flatten out,” Sirika said.
He said that the nation’s cumulative numbers in the last weeks of 49-51 were: week 49: 1,843; week 50: 3,918; week 51 (Mon-Wed): 1,889.
He also listed the global situation in the last three days as over 74 million mark, now at 74,516,681; USA crossed the 17 million mark; while Africa Region has crossed the 1.6M cases mark.
He said, “Global CFR declined to 2.2%, while the WHO Africa region’s CFR remains at 2.2 %; USA continues to record high daily case incidence of over 248,686 cases daily; and on the WHO Africa region, Nigeria ranks 5th for both highest cumulative cases and highest cumulative deaths.”
Sirika said that last Tuesday, the PTF held the end of term technical session where it assessed the progress made and the present dangers that confront the nation.
He said that the report of the PTF will be submitted to the President on Tuesday, 22 December, 2020.
“Current realities, however, point to the fact that the course of further opening up of the economy may have to be reviewed,” he warned.
He said that the festive season is here and everyone need to remain conscious of the fact that large gathering events will take place.
“It is our strong advice that all non-essential trips be cancelled outrightly.
“We also urge citizens to avoid large gathering events,” he added.