The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Delta State on Health Monitoring, Dr Michael Nwoko, has urged Deltans to join in prayers for the speedy recovery of Governor Okowa, his wife, daughter and all those infected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
While describing this period as a very difficult time for the State, Dr. Nwoko who is also a member of the State COVID-19 Enforcement Committee, urged religious and community leaders to take the pandemic seriously by always encouraging their members to take responsibility of their personal safety by adjusting to the new social order as spelt out by the Nigeria Center For Disease Control (NCDC) preventive protocols.
On the recent reopening of borders in the State despite the spikes, Dr Nwoko insisted that the suspension of border activities was the right thing to do since the pandemic has entered into community transmission stage.
“We have reached a threshold whereby we now have to focus on other departments of the operation such as testing, contact surveillance and management,” Dr Nwoko stated in an interview with reporters in his office at Asaba recently.
On the spikes of the pandemic in the State, Dr Nwoko said that it is as a result of the inability of the people to adhere strictly to safety protocols.
“This arose from misconception and doubts about the existence of the disease. Some assumed it is a hoax. Coronavirus is real and I want to use this medium to encourage residents of the State to take full responsibility for their personal safety by adhering to the NCDC safety guidelines.
“With the current infectious rate of 1,131, the virus spikes in the State is alarming, the State is passing through difficult time which calls for concern. Traditional rulers, religious and community leaders should join the fight by encouraging their communities to embrace the NCDC safety protocols,” he stated.
Speaking also on the reopened borders by the Government in the midst of increased cases, Nwoko said, “in the first place, border closure was introduced to prevent the spread of the virus in the State. It was to curtail interstate transmission, but now that the virus is here and has already gone into community transmission stage, border closure at this time will have little or no effect.
“This is the time to focus on other departments of operation such as testing, contact surveillance and management in order to effectively deal with the Pandemic,” Dr Nwoko said.
Reported by Iroroh Frank
