Nigeria

COVID-19: Minister of health says self-isolation policy has failed

Thursday, May 07, 2020 at 7:26 PM by Kess Ewubare

- The federal government has said the policy of self-isolation (isolation from home), especially for those coming into the country, has not been effective

- The minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, explained that the policy failed because there were multiplication of COVID-19 cases from people entering the country

- Ehanire said the provision of self-isolation has now been replaced with quarantining of travelers on arrival

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The minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, has said the policy of self-isolation (isolation from home), especially for those coming into the country has failed.

Ehanire speaking during a briefing on Thursday, May 7, in Abuja, said the policy failed because there was the multiplication of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases from such people entering the country.

COVID-19: Self-isolation has failed – Health minister — The federal government says the self-isolation policy is not effective. Photo credits: Osagie Ehanire
Source: Twitter

He said the provision of self-isolation has now been replaced with quarantining of travelers on arrival, The Nation reports.

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He disclosed that quarantining was adopted in order to curb the incidence of such cases coming in and forming clusters of new infections across the country.

"The policy we have now is that anybody arriving Nigeria from anywhere whether by air, land or by sea will go into quarantine for 14 days. During that 14 days they will be observed for any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 disease. They will be tested at the beginning and at the end," the minister said.

Meanwhile, the federal government on Wednesday, May 6, expressed worry that Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the deadly nature of the global pandemic called coronavirus.

According to This Day, this would be the second time the Nigerian government is lamenting over the refusal of people complying with safety guidelines since the easing of the lockdown in the FCT, Ogun and Lagos states.

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Boss Mustapha, the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 speaking at the daily briefing in Abuja, expressed the government’s dissatisfaction with peoples' misconduct across the nation.

The SGF pointed out that the basic safety rules such as mask-wearing, physical distancing, and ban on interstate travel had been disobeyed particularly in the epicentres.

The Nigerian government warned that there were great dangers ahead as coronavirus may spread exponentially with the potential to overwhelm the public health system.

Mustapha went on to note that President Muhammadu Buhari had become worried by the increasing spread among health and ordered state governments to increase the number of isolation centres.

In another report, a former Kano commissioner for works and infrastructural development, Mu’az Magaji, who was sacked for celebrating Abba Kyari's death has tested positive for coronavirus.

Magaji who confirmed the news on Thursday, May 7, revealed that he has been moved to an isolation centre for immediate medical attention, Vanguard reports.