COVID-19: FG urges Nigerians to adhere protocols

The Minister of Environment, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, made the call in Abuja while briefing the newsmen on the second waves of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Abubakar said that the important of adhering to the COVID-19 protocols was to ensure that Nigerians were saved and protected from the deadly virus.

”We remind ourselves that Nigeria is witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 infection going by the records of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control.

“This resurgence, the second wave as it is known, is hitting countries and territories with varying degrees of impact.

“The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, has been advocating to Nigerians to observe safety provisions in the protocol for coronavirus disease control in the country.

“In the wake of the resurgence, the Ministry of Environment has already begun terminal environmental decontamination and disinfection of premises where COVID-19 cases have been recorded stemming out of requests from such quarters.

“We, as a ministry, are determined to continue to support the Federal Government’s coordinated response to the pandemic.

“As previously done, the ministry is poised to once again render qualitative services,” he said.

Abubakar recalled that the ministry, being one of the line COVID-19 response ministries, proactively mobilised the general public at the inception of the infections earlier this year, towards understanding the nature, mode of spread and control measures.

He said that the whole, maintenance of sterility of premises, containments, dwellings, offices were the main objective of the ministry’s decontamination and disinfection intervention.

The minister said that the effort was to ensure that their users would be safeguarded from letting in the virus and other microbes into their systems.

“It is once more necessary to re-echo the need for Nigerians to adhere strictly to provisions of the COVID-19 control protocol as the main barriers of the virus spread.

“To this end, hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, avoidance of crowd, physical distancing must continue to be adopted by all and sundry.

“Also, terminal and concurrent decontamination/disinfection.

“It is my firm conviction that decontamination/disinfection as acclaimed by international standards, is contributing immensely to the containment of the spread of Corona virus in Nigeria.

“I will like to appeal to Nigerians to embrace the safe utilisation of decontamination formulations and administration by engaging only licensed Environmental Health Practitioners for decontamination/disinfection services as an efficient non pharmaceutical Corona control measure.

“Against this backdrop, the ministry is thanking Mr President for effectively addressing internal security.

“We also appreciate the efforts of government in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Speaking, Dr Yakubu Baba, Registrar, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria, expressed hope that the second wave of the pandemic would be promptly controlled effectively.

“We are grateful to the media for their continuous support and cooperation,” he said.(NAN)