Even with the outbreak of COVID-19 substantial beaten back, the Federal Government, said it is not sleeping on the situation and is continuously maintaining vigilance and a high level of preparedness to ensure that it is not caught napping in containing a fresh situation.
The measures being taken along this line includes the continuous monitoring of the nation’s entry points to prevent a fresh government, said on Monday at the Federal Ministry of Health’s ministerial press briefing in Abuja on COVID-19 and other developments in the health sector.
Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who stated this, said the Ministry had met with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Embassy of China to review the resurgence of COVID-19 in China, against the backdrop of the resurgence of the pandemic in the country, where the “Zero-COVID” policy, had just been relaxed as well as significantly increased COVID-19 cases, admissions, and deaths in the United Kingdom and the United States of America over the past weeks, driven partly by the usual winter exacerbations of respiratory illnesses.
Weighing in on the situation, he said: “My ministry has been having discussions with the World Health Organisation with the senior officials of the ministry, and we have had technical sessions to do a situation review. The observed increase in the number of cases in China, the USA, and Europe is seasonal, and it is not unexpected during the winter.
“So, the recent relaxation also affects the rise in cases with the removal of travel restrictions. From what you know so far, it’s not that there is a new variant, but there are sub-variants, and they are different. The ministry of health will continue to maintain vigilance and a high level of preparedness, especially at our points of entry. The Ministry of Health will not hesitate to take necessary action. Nigerians are advised to take the necessary precautions, get vaccinated, and use facemasks when necessary.”
