PREVALENCE AND RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS-19 OUTBREAK: AN UPDATE OF THE NIGERIA SCENARIO

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) disease that has become a public health emergency situation of global recognition. The World Health Organization has declared the novel virus to belong to the coronavirus of the bat origin as its natural host, and transmitted from human to human contact through droplets from coughs, sneeze or contacts with contaminated surfaces, with clinical manifestation of symptoms such as; difficulty in breath, dry coughs, fatigue and fever. An update of COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria up to on the 26th of April, 2020 clearly revealed that the epidemic according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC] has a total of 1,273 confirmed cases with a spread across 33 states of Nigeria. The death rate recorded remained at 44 with a total of 994 active confirmed cases and 239 recovered cases. The response of the Nigerian government towards containing the spread of the global pandemic is quite commendable as various state governments have implemented high-quality surveillance and intensifying preparedness against the COVID-19 disease. However, reports have indicated that the needed health facilities and drug for detection, isolation, testing and control strategy has been grossly inadequate to cover the 36 states of Nigeria including Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Presently, there are no proven treatment options for COVID-19 rather than adopting the key preventive strategy guidelines by the federal government which requires stay at home, avoid direct human contacts, and maintain social distance, washing of hands regularly with soap and water while taking responsibility by reporting suspicious cases to appropriate authorities.