COVID-19: PSC expresses worry over lack of adherence to quarantine protocol

The Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 has lamented that lack of compliance with protocols laid down for quarantine to ensure control remains a source of worry to the committee.

The Committee has equally appealed to the striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to call off the prolonged strike based on Intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Chairman of the Committee and Secretary to the Goverment of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, spoke at the PSC national briefing on Monday in Abuja.

He said the need to review the COVID-19 protocol has become expedient to align with existing global protocols and realities, disclosing that PSC would adopt a sustainable model and policy that would be unveiled soon.

He said: “The Global cases recorded continues to decline to about 4m cases weekly, although it is less, compared to last year and the situation calls for caution because we are not out of the woods yet.

“Africa and Nigeria in particular, continue to record rising cases and lots of fatalities. This can really be curtailed and reduced minimally if we adhere strictly to the NPIs.

“I recognize the fact that people are fatigued and tired but let me encourage all Nigerians not to give up. We all need to come together to defeat this dreaded disease so we can return to our normal life,” SGF said.

While calling on every eligible person to come out and be vaccinated, Mustapha stressed that the most potent way of getting out of this situation was through vaccines, which science and research have proved.

“We have AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and we expect Pfizer to be delivered very soon.

“There will be enough vaccines to go round soon. By the second quarter of 2022, we would have received about 52 million doses of the vaccines,” he said.

He noted that to ease travels for fully vaccinated Nigerians, the goverment is exploring the principles of reciprocity between Nigeria and other nations.

“For the time being, Nigerians are advised to always carry their vaccination card details or barcode on their electronic devices for easy access especially for those travelling outside the country,” he said.

SGF added that efforts were ongoing to implement the policy on Vaccine Mandate for all Federal Public Servants. This is to ensure safety in the workplace and at home.

He said the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Aviation would continue to dialogue with the representatives of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to resolve the issue of the Emirates flights between Nigeria and the UAE, maintaining that the protection of the interest of Nigerians remains the primary focus.

On doctors strike, SGF said: “On the heels of Mr President’s intervention in the health sector, I want to use this opportunity to appeal to our Health Workers to consider the health situation in our country and call off their strike while Government continues to look into all matters that will improve the system, processes and welfare.”

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