By Frank Iroroh
A Senior Special Assistant to Delta State Governor on Health Monitoring and member of the State Covid-19 Enforcement Committee, Dr Michael Nwoko, has said the efforts of government at checking the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state and the country is being hindered by non compliance with stipulated preventive and safety protocols by the people.
Dr Nwoko, who stated this on a television programme in Asaba, said flagrant disregard for the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols had reached a threshold where stringent measures must be taken to enforce compliance, emphasising that the Health system activated to deal with the crisis could be overwhelmed if something drastic was not done.
The SSA said the state government was going all out to enforce compliance with the preventive protocols, insisting that compliance with NCDC protocols was the best way to go in order to guarantee the safety of the people from the pandemic.
He stated that enforcement should be at every level of government, adding that at the local government level it must be driven by the authorities in collaboration with the traditional institutions so as to reach out to the people on the need to adjust their belief system as it would be difficult to convince people who did not believe in the reality of COVID-19.
Dr Nwoko explained that many of those who never believed that COVID-19 was real were rural dwellers, pointing out that in markets people went about their businesses without face masks, while many never observed social distancing.
He described the situation as dangerous and largely responsible for the rise in infectious rate.
The SSA said currently with a total of 1,323 confirmed cases, 838 of which are active and 454 discharges, with an average of 60% of bed capacity utilized, Delta state had so far recorded huge success in its response to COVID-19, attributing it to the unrelenting efforts and coordinating ability the State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.
Dr Nwoko said given the fact that COVID – 19 remained a novel disease, which people had very limited knowledge ofthe best bet was for everyone to comply with the preventive protocols, adjust their lifestyles and belief systems.
While harping on the danger posed by asymptomatic carriers to the society, Dr Nwoko warned of the consequences of taking COVID – 19 for granted advised those with symptoms of fever, sore throat, loss of sense of smell and dry cough to make themselves available for testing.
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