Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the
number of COVID-19 cases recorded at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
orientation camps across the country is more than reported.
Over 109 prospective corps members had reportedly tested
positive for COVID-19, a report the scheme said is “misleading”.
Adenike Adeyemi, NYSC director of press and public
relations, claimed that “there is no COVID-19 positive corps member in any of
the 37 NYSC orientation Camps nationwide”.
However, at least 35 confirmed cases have been recorded at
the Ogun state orientation camp and 20 at that of Kano state.
Commenting on the situation, Lai said if more tests are
conducted, “there will be more cases”.
He said consistent testing and non-compliance to
non-pharmaceutical interventions are responsible for the rising cases of
infection across the camps.
“Two things are responsible for the high cases of pandemic
reported at the National Youth Service Corps camps,” Mohammed said.
“One is because of
consistent testing that has been taking place in the camps. The truth of the
matter is that if we ramp up testing today, there will be more cases.
“Second reason for the high cases is that people have actually let down their guards. We are no
longer obeying non-pharmaceutical interventions such as washing of hands
regularly with soap and water or sanitising of hands when that (washing of
hand) is not available.”
The minister said Nigerians have relaxed their guard despite
an increased number of infections certifying that the country is experiencing a
third wave.
“If over 4.2 million people have been lost to the virus
world-wide and it is not abating. So we need to take more seriousness on the
protocols around COVID-19 especially on non-pharmaceutical interventions,” he
said.
“Some countries are
even having the 4th and the 5th waves. It is not unique to Nigeria. Because
when you look at the wave, like last Saturday it was 1000 plus and now going to
18000 cases in Nigeria.
“In the last four weeks in particular, we have witnessed so
much increase even globally. So far, we are witnessing almost four million
every week globally and from daily cases of about 540,000, we are now
witnessing 570,000 daily worldwide.
“So really, Nigeria is already in the third wave and this
case has been compounded by Delta variant. And we have identified the Delta
variant in several states in Nigeria also.
“The Delta variant is about 60 times more potent than the
wide COVID II. And it is very virulent, deadly and more easily transmissible.
“It appears that
while the normal variant will take about seven days to manifest, the delta
variant manifests within two days of being infected. So, it is a real challenge
for us. But the PSC is not resting on its oars to ensure that they give out
necessary directive to national response team to tackle this virus.”
The minister also said Nigeria is not seeking donations to
procure COVID vaccines.
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