Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general of the Nigeria Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC), says 90 per cent of COVID-19 patients recover without
any intervention.
He disclosed this at the media briefing of the presidential
task force on COVID-19 on Wednesday, while responding to a question on how Seyi
Makinde, governor of Oyo State, recovered in less than one week.
He said what a COVID-19 patient usually requires is support
for the body to recover by itself.
“We should remember that 90 per cent of these patients
recover without any intervention. So, if you take something and say you
recovered and that something is why you recovered, it doesn’t quite add up. So,
hopefully, there will be some treatment emerging over the next few years but
remember that people recover from many viruses; that’s the way it happens,” he
said.
“There are very few viruses with a cure. Even the ones that
have a bad outcome like lassa fever – 20 per cent of patients die from it – it
still means that 80 per cent of patients will recover without any treatment per
se. What happens is that the body is supported to recover on its own. So, you
go to a hospital and for COVID-19, you’re given oxygen. Oxygen is not really a
treatment; it’s to keep you alive for long enough for you to recover yourself.”
He also appealed to political leaders to refrain from
announcing details of COVID-19 cases in their states, and leave such actions to
the experts.
“We’re really appealing to our leaders across the country.
Please, let the experts do the reporting. Nobody should reveal the identity of
a patient, even if it’s the first patient in your state. Please, do not reveal
the identity of a patient; the circumstances whether he’s a doctor not. We
don’t need all of that. This is a virus. They haven’t committed an offence;
they haven’t done anything wrong. We have to show empathy towards all our
patients; that’s what we signed up to as healthcare workers,” he said.
He added that political leaders announcing details of
COVID-19 cases is not “ill-intentioned”, but about them “not understanding the
ethics and norms of the medical practice and public health”.
As of 9pm on April 8, 2020, Nigeria had recorded 276 confirmed
COVID-19 cases.
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