COVID-19: Physician counsels as harmattan returns

A physician, Dr. Olakunle Omotemi has revealed that the sudden resurgence of harmattan especially in Osun State could be a sign post for increased positive cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.

The physician, who made this revelation in a chat with DAILY POST, also explained that it has been backed up by research that COVID-19 thrives more in cold weather situations.

According to him, Nigerians must take every precautionary action to shield themselves from getting infected as there is a tendency for a spike in the number of positive cases.

He, however, stated that this could be prevented if citizens adhered to the COVID-19 guidelines as already laid down by the Federal Government.

“Some of the provisions in the guidelines is the wearing of facemasks in public, washing of hands with running water and the use of alcohol based hand sanitisers.

“Also, Nigerians should learn to keep some level of distance and when the need arises, stay indoors and work from home,” he said.

Omotemi advised anybody who has symptoms associated with COVID-19 to self isolate for the required number of days and in emergency cases visit the government designated health facility.

While noting that the onset of harmattan could be a factor for other ailments to arise, he counselled nursing mothers to take extra care of their infant babies so as to prevent an outbreak of opportunistic infections.

The medical practitioner also expressed delight that the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had approved the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for Nigeria, a decision which he termed as good development for the country.

He maintained that the decision to choose AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was not just arrived at but it was a painstaking one reached after exhaustive research and investigation must have been carried out.

It would be recalled that residents of most towns in Osun woke up yesterday to a resurgence of harmattan and hazy weather.FAAC shares N640.3bn to FG, States, LGAs for January.

-Daily Post