I am directing this message to my folks in Nigeria and the rest of Africa, that you should
all take the necessary precautionary steps - add WORK to your faith in
the wake of CORONA-VIRUS (covid-19) Pandemic. There is no need for PANIC
even though it is a reality that is staring all of us in the face and
we need to take all the steps necessary to be safe.
I am not saying you should not use your faith but also use your common sense. The Chinese and Italian experiences should make any smart person listen to professional advice. I have seen all kinds of videos of people binding and commanding coronavirus from entering Nigeria - it is in Nigeria already. Some are prescribing special prayer solutions - praying over saltwater five times and saying certain scriptures into the water as if one is saying an incantation. The virus spreads through contact, and you must take steps that will prevent yourself and members of your families from being infected. People who are immunocompromised are the most susceptible - people of any age with pre-existing health conditions, children and adults above 60 years. Do all of those spiritual things but do the easier stuff also:
1. Practice social distancing - Stay a couple of meters away from people in public and void any gathering that is more than five people. I know this will affect going to church or mosque. Stay a few meters away from people. This will be very difficult for people to adhere to in Nigeria. We like our parties, we cannot but go to church or mosque - a word is enough for the wise. I will explain the consequences of not adhering to strict public gathering rules later.
2. Do not shake hands or embrace anyone until further notice.
3. Wash your hands FREQUENTLY and thoroughly with a leather soap. Wash the right way - https://www.cnn.com/…/how-to-wash-hands-coronavi…/index.html
4. Have a sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content handy to wipe your hands frequently. Not all hand sanitizers are born the same, it must be 60% or more. Do not be stingy with its use. If you cannot find a hand sanitizer, get "OGOGORO", local booze. Most ogogoro are high in alcohol content.
5. Wipe all surfaces that are frequently touched, doorknobs, computer keyboards, car steering, especially, if it is a shared one. Do not open public doors with bare hands except you are ready to wash or sanitize your hands immediately.
6. Do not rub your eyes with your bare hands, it is an easy route to being infected, especially in public.
7. Avoid traveling to hot spots of the disease - China, Europe (especially Italy), America, South Korea, Iran, Japan, Australia.
8. If you are sick with a flu-like symptom, go straight to the hospital to get treatment. Covid-19 symptoms (high fever, cough, difficulty breathing) are similar to those of ordinary flu - where it is different is the level of difficulty in breathing.
9. If you are coughing, whatever type of cough it may be, cough into a tissue paper or your elbow - not into the air. Use a nose mask in public to protect others.
10. Be on the constant lookout for updates for infection rates in your vicinity. If the rate goes up, take your children out of school and work from home if need be.
11. Instruct your children and senior citizens (older people) about steps to take to be safe at this time.
12. This is the time to stock up on essential items, especially food and water.
I am not raising an unnecessary alarm but trying to add to the voice of those educating people to use their common sense to be safe at this precarious time. We should learn from the Italian experience. There are more people who die from other diseases daily but this disease is highly infectious, that is why it is very dangerous.
My concern about Nigeria and Africa, in general, is that we are still short of test-kits. This may explain the low recorded number of infected people. If you are sick and you are not tested, how do you know you have not contracted the virus? Chinese from China, the epicenter of covid-19 have traveled across the world since late November 2019 when the incident was first recorded and was covered up. Many of them traveled to Africa where they have businesses. They traveled to Europe and Asia, and that is why the incident is widespread in Europe now. Italy is under complete lock down, Germany expects that about 75% of its population will be infected. The US is bracing for a very difficult situation, schools are closing. My university will close on Monday next week for two weeks. The most effective way to contain the spread of the virus is to curtail human traffic and social interactions. The advice against public gathering is predicated on the fact that the virus spread quickly from person to person in a public gathering. There was a Biotechnology conference in Boston USA last month, 22 people who attended that conference have tested positive for covid-19. One sneeze can infect anyone within your vicinity.
I do not know why people think Africa is immune - my GREATEST concern is that the pandemic would have ravaged Africa before the continent has the capability to identify (test) those infected. Africa is the poorest continent, the least prepared to handle a pandemic of this magnitude and may be the most devastated from human capital and economic standpoint. Those who say that the immune level of an average African is higher than those of the rest of the world may be right, but the landscape in Africa has changed a lot over the decades. Many do not eat bush-meat or drink unpurified water anymore, we are as susceptible as the rest of the world.
I hope my people in Nigeria and the rest of Africa heed these warnings and prepare themselves for a possible outbreak that is unprecedented. The continent is already devastated with the ripple effect of covid-19 from other parts of the world - the supply chain is broken, petroleum price has dropped significantly, supply from china have reduced drastically, the stock market is crashing across Africa, just like the rest of the world.
Homo sapiens are resilient, we have survived a worse outbreak of a pandemic than this, even when science was still in the dark. We will conquer this one too - the question is, who will, who will not. The vaccine to counter covid-19 is still over a year away, while we are waiting, taking common-sense precautionary steps are some of the easiest solutions. Be safe.
I am not saying you should not use your faith but also use your common sense. The Chinese and Italian experiences should make any smart person listen to professional advice. I have seen all kinds of videos of people binding and commanding coronavirus from entering Nigeria - it is in Nigeria already. Some are prescribing special prayer solutions - praying over saltwater five times and saying certain scriptures into the water as if one is saying an incantation. The virus spreads through contact, and you must take steps that will prevent yourself and members of your families from being infected. People who are immunocompromised are the most susceptible - people of any age with pre-existing health conditions, children and adults above 60 years. Do all of those spiritual things but do the easier stuff also:
1. Practice social distancing - Stay a couple of meters away from people in public and void any gathering that is more than five people. I know this will affect going to church or mosque. Stay a few meters away from people. This will be very difficult for people to adhere to in Nigeria. We like our parties, we cannot but go to church or mosque - a word is enough for the wise. I will explain the consequences of not adhering to strict public gathering rules later.
2. Do not shake hands or embrace anyone until further notice.
3. Wash your hands FREQUENTLY and thoroughly with a leather soap. Wash the right way - https://www.cnn.com/…/how-to-wash-hands-coronavi…/index.html
4. Have a sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content handy to wipe your hands frequently. Not all hand sanitizers are born the same, it must be 60% or more. Do not be stingy with its use. If you cannot find a hand sanitizer, get "OGOGORO", local booze. Most ogogoro are high in alcohol content.
5. Wipe all surfaces that are frequently touched, doorknobs, computer keyboards, car steering, especially, if it is a shared one. Do not open public doors with bare hands except you are ready to wash or sanitize your hands immediately.
6. Do not rub your eyes with your bare hands, it is an easy route to being infected, especially in public.
7. Avoid traveling to hot spots of the disease - China, Europe (especially Italy), America, South Korea, Iran, Japan, Australia.
8. If you are sick with a flu-like symptom, go straight to the hospital to get treatment. Covid-19 symptoms (high fever, cough, difficulty breathing) are similar to those of ordinary flu - where it is different is the level of difficulty in breathing.
9. If you are coughing, whatever type of cough it may be, cough into a tissue paper or your elbow - not into the air. Use a nose mask in public to protect others.
10. Be on the constant lookout for updates for infection rates in your vicinity. If the rate goes up, take your children out of school and work from home if need be.
11. Instruct your children and senior citizens (older people) about steps to take to be safe at this time.
12. This is the time to stock up on essential items, especially food and water.
I am not raising an unnecessary alarm but trying to add to the voice of those educating people to use their common sense to be safe at this precarious time. We should learn from the Italian experience. There are more people who die from other diseases daily but this disease is highly infectious, that is why it is very dangerous.
My concern about Nigeria and Africa, in general, is that we are still short of test-kits. This may explain the low recorded number of infected people. If you are sick and you are not tested, how do you know you have not contracted the virus? Chinese from China, the epicenter of covid-19 have traveled across the world since late November 2019 when the incident was first recorded and was covered up. Many of them traveled to Africa where they have businesses. They traveled to Europe and Asia, and that is why the incident is widespread in Europe now. Italy is under complete lock down, Germany expects that about 75% of its population will be infected. The US is bracing for a very difficult situation, schools are closing. My university will close on Monday next week for two weeks. The most effective way to contain the spread of the virus is to curtail human traffic and social interactions. The advice against public gathering is predicated on the fact that the virus spread quickly from person to person in a public gathering. There was a Biotechnology conference in Boston USA last month, 22 people who attended that conference have tested positive for covid-19. One sneeze can infect anyone within your vicinity.
I do not know why people think Africa is immune - my GREATEST concern is that the pandemic would have ravaged Africa before the continent has the capability to identify (test) those infected. Africa is the poorest continent, the least prepared to handle a pandemic of this magnitude and may be the most devastated from human capital and economic standpoint. Those who say that the immune level of an average African is higher than those of the rest of the world may be right, but the landscape in Africa has changed a lot over the decades. Many do not eat bush-meat or drink unpurified water anymore, we are as susceptible as the rest of the world.
I hope my people in Nigeria and the rest of Africa heed these warnings and prepare themselves for a possible outbreak that is unprecedented. The continent is already devastated with the ripple effect of covid-19 from other parts of the world - the supply chain is broken, petroleum price has dropped significantly, supply from china have reduced drastically, the stock market is crashing across Africa, just like the rest of the world.
Homo sapiens are resilient, we have survived a worse outbreak of a pandemic than this, even when science was still in the dark. We will conquer this one too - the question is, who will, who will not. The vaccine to counter covid-19 is still over a year away, while we are waiting, taking common-sense precautionary steps are some of the easiest solutions. Be safe.
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