3rd COVID-19 wave: Amid vaccination deficit, Nigerian Government must reawaken protocol enforcement
Recent reports have begun to reflect increase in the number of cases testing positive to the COVID-19 virus in Nigeria. Emerging dynamics greeting the wave of the pandemic have begun to raise new realities, with the discovery of the highly transmissible COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2. The COVID-19 Delta variant, first detected in India in April, is considered now to be the most transmissible variant which has now spread to nearly 100 Countries across the world. The variant is now responsible for more than 90 per cent of all new infections in the United Kingdom and about 30 per cent in the United States.
The rising dynamics visiting the records of increasing cases in the past few weeks, have begun to send signals of a third wave of the pandemic in Nigeria. Following the dousing of tension with the flattening of the curve of the virus in the second wave, easing of safety protocols and guideline directives have taken effect beginning from the end of March.
It is pertinent to note that while the vaccination processes had commenced in a couple of months across the Country, comparison of the records of beneficiaries to those yet to be vaccinated, is so irreconcilable. It would be recalled that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had last Thursday confirmed a case with the highly transmissible COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant. The Head of Communications, NCDC, Dr Yahya Disu, who announced the development, had in a statement last Thursday, said the variant was detected in a traveler to Nigeria, following the routine travel test required of all international travelers and genomic sequencing at the NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja. According to Disu, the Delta variant is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a variant of concern, given its increased transmissibility. Update report on Friday by the NCDC had showed that 186 new cases recorded in three States were confirmed; of which Lagos State topped the chart by reporting 175 out of the new cases. Meanwhile, the NCDC data shows that a total of 164,323 recoveries have been made across the Country so far while 1,897 cases are said to be active.
State Governments which are responsive to the risks of the new rising records of upsurge in cases testing positive recently, have begun to swung into action with order to reawaken attention of their residents to existing protocols, while issuing new stringent directives to prevent an elaborate spread of what might form a third wave of the pandemic in the Country. The Lagos State Government had following the new development, appealed to the sensitivity of its residence by reawakening safety protocols to mitigate an uncontrollable spread of the virus. An update report delivered by the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had chipped in more stringent directives on air travels. The Governor in the Update Statement on Monday, had lamented that the State has once again begun to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1% at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6% as at 8th of July 2021. The Governor who is the State’s Incident Commander for COVID-19 management, regretted that “in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lagos State.” Mentioning that the rapid increase within a week gives great cause for concern, he had disclosed that, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at the State’s isolation centres increased from an average of 1% to 6%.
For air Travel Protocols for in-Bound Passengers between 8th May 2021 and 7th July 2021, records revealed that a total of 50,322 passengers of interest arrived in Lagos via the Murtala Mohammed Airport. Of the 50,322 passengers, 18 percent could not be reached by EKOTELEMED because of the provision of either wrong numbers or wrong Nigerian contact details to be reached on. On the new protocols on air travels, the Governor declared that going forward, passengers that do not provide the right details, including a phone number they can be reached for monitoring and an address for isolation, will face serious sanctions including fines and imprisonment according to the Lagos State Coronavirus Law of 2021. On sanctions against quarantine defaulters as dictated by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC), passengers from red-listed countries (India, South Africa, Brazil and Turkey) are required to observe mandatory isolation.
“So far, we have successfully isolated 2,386 passengers in Lagos State. Of this number, 15% have absconded. The following sanctions are being recommended and have already been meted out to defaulters: For Foreigners: Revocation of their Permanent Residency, and deportation; and; For Nigerians: Prosecution to the full extent of the Lagos State COVID-19 Law,” the directive read. According to the Governor, greater vigilance is required for religious activities at this time in Churches and Mosques and other places of religious worship.
The Oyo state government had similarly raised concern over the signs of a third wave with a message of caution to its citizens. The Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force following the uncovering of the delta variant in the State had on Sunday directed its residents to take extra precautions. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, on behalf of the Task Force, indicated that the Task Force “wishes to notify the general public of the isolation of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus in the State.” The statement read partly: “This strain has been associated with high transmission, increase severity of infection and outcomes. As such, this is to warn that the virus is still very much within the society.”
Following the growing concerns over the spread of new COVID-19 variants, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had last week cautioned governments around the world against easing COVID-19 restrictions too soon, sending a note of warning that Countries that do so risk suffering the brunt of hasting back to normality. The Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Michael Ryan, who gave the warning at a press briefing last week, had said a new wave of infections was imminent, stressing the pandemic was just getting started.
More closely, it would be recalled that last week, the WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, had in a press conference warned of the speed and scale of a third wave in Africa which she mentioned is assuming an unlikely dimension. “COVID-19 cases are doubling every three weeks, compared to every four weeks at the start of the second wave,” Moeti said. She was quoted: “Africa has just marked the continent’s most dire pandemic week ever. But the worst is yet to come as the fast-moving third wave continues to gain speed and new ground. The end to this precipitous rise is still weeks away. Cases are doubling now every 18 days, compared with every 21 days only a week ago. We can still break the chain of transmission by testing, isolating contacts and cases and following key public health measures.”
Concerns appear to put Nigeria at huge risk with experts’ observation that over 80 per cent of a country’s population would need to be inoculated in order to contain the new COVID-19 variant. This position poses a challenge to Nigeria which is still grappling with a huge deficit in the records of vaccination in the Country. Records have shown that in the whole of Africa less than two percent of the population, are now fully vaccinated even as 19 Countries have used more than 80 percent of their COVAX-supplied doses, while 31 Countries have used more than 50 percent.
It is pertinent for the Government at all levels to reawaken advocacy towards putting citizens on guard. The necessity to tighten loosed provisions over safety directives, such as those bordering on international air travels is paramount. Stern measures of restricting flights from high-risk Countries with troubling records of cases is important for the Government to implement. Applying stringent measures to testing of air travellers with compliance to the isolation directives upon arrival into the Country is paramount.
It is essential to blend directives with strategic sense of appeal to make citizens reason with the necessity to adhere to safety protocols of public health as well as social and hygienic measures – such as physical distancing, frequent handwashing, and proper use of face masks, among others.
Also important is the necessity to reawaken the directives guiding social functions and gatherings, including other public settings as schools running hostel facilities, workplaces and camps. As recommended, such entities should be regulated to utilise the approved Antigen-based Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) for rapid testing of their population. It is sacrosanct for the Government to give heed to full enforcement of the directives with strategic measures. This remains paramount considering the depth of deficits of yet to be vaccinated persons in the Country.
