Misinformation, religious conspiracy and foolhardiness fueling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 aka Coronavirus in Nigeria

 Since November 2020, SEVEN of my friends have lost their parents in sicknesses that showed symptoms similar to coronavirus but none has accepted that there was a possibility that these people actually died from infection with this dreaded disease. About 6 weeks ago, some Nigerian preachers were berating Bill Gates for his earlier projection that people will die on the streets in Africa (not sure if Gates said this - so many lies have been attributed to Gates since covid-19 started snuffing life out of people), they claimed Nigerians have special grace that protect them from coronavirus – I ask them, why can’t the same grace cover Nigerians from other diseases that make Nigeria one of the worst places for infant mortality and with a life expectancy of 53 years. The reality of SARS-CoV-2 spread is starring many in the face and only those who have been touched can truly lament. Here is the story of my encounter with coronavirus when I visited Nigeria late last year.

I traveled home (Nigeria) late last year to care for my mum who was going to have a major procedure done. Everyone I told in the US thought I was crazy to be traveling in the midst of a major pandemic. I made up my mind that I was going to try to protect myself as much as possible, that I did. When I arrived in Nigeria, from my senior cousin I bunked with in Lagos the first night, to my friend who drove me to my home town, Ibadan, and my in-laws in Lagos, no one was wearing a mask - they were all looking at me like someone that just arrived from the moon. This was the case for the whole two weeks I spent, everywhere I went, I wore a mask and I tried to distant myself as much as possible from people. The only place where people wore a mask was in the hospital and still there was zero social distancing - patients and doctors were crowded together in the consultation halls and rooms at government hospitals like UCH Ibadan that I frequented, elevators were filled to the brim, there was no hand washing gate or sanitizer anywhere except you have your own. In fact, some of my friends boasted that they have special grace, that coronavirus does not exist in Nigeria - and I wonder. They made fun of me with my mask.

Not quite four days after arriving Nigeria, I started having symptoms of fever and muscle pain. A friend took me to the Railway Clinic in Ibadan - shout out to all the staff at Railway Clinic Ibadan, very nice and polite professionals. They ran typhoid and malaria tests and they concluded I had malaria, and I was placed on malaria drugs. A week after arriving Nigeria, I went to Ajimobi’s clinic near Ring-Road Hospital Ibadan for my compulsory COVID-19 test as a new arrival. The result never came until I returned to the US, and they claimed I was negative.

My fever subsided a bit after taking the antimalarial medicine while I was running errands and caring for my mum. The fever and muscle pain returned the second week, and now with some cough. One of my aburos who is a resident doctor at UCH in Ibadan prescribed antibiotics, which I purchased and added another antimalarial drug, which I started taking. I was still wearing my mask everywhere so much that the back of my ears hurt from the mask's handles. My trip was busy and packed, and I continue to endure these pains, at some point, I stopped using AC in my room at night because I was experiencing cold. Two days to my departure, I realized I could not smell anything again, and it still did not occur to me I might have contracted coronavirus until the day of my departure from Nigeria that my friend taking me to the airport told me that he had the virus and one of his symptoms was loss of sense of smell and it struck me that I might have been infected. At this point, my test result from Ajimobi's clinic had not been sent - this was after 9 days.

Anyway, I returned to the US and the first thing I did was to get tested for coronavirus and the result came back positive. To be sure, I tested a second time, the result was the same. At this point, my only symptom was loss of sense of smell and repeated coughing. I was quarantined in a room at home. Nobody in my family was infected. I tested negative after one week. I was lucky to not have developed any complications. I could have been another statistic despite all the precautions I took.

I received the news of a close family is who recovering from this disease four days ago – the person is domiciled in Nigeria. Also, an elderly friend in Nigeria just got discharged from coronavirus isolation center in Lagos along with his wife six days ago – they were both lucky to have survived – they were placed on oxygen at some point. I lost a cousin to this disease in the UK at the start of the disease in April 2020. Seven of my friends have lost their parents since November 2020. Some will know of the professors that attended a function in Lagos late in 2020 and almost all of them died from coronavirus a few days later. Orisabunmi, a famous Yoruba actress died a few days between her two brothers, most likely from covid-19. The number of cases spiked not too long after I left but many today – February 10, 2021 still believe that they are not at risk of coronavirus. They feign special grace that has not protected Nigerians against bad government and other deadly diseases. There are some of my friends who still share with me a few days ago on WhatsApp a number of conspiracy theories about the virus, that the vaccine is dangerous and so many other nonsense I cannot mention here. It is quite unfortunate that some religious folks are misleading their members foolishly – some of them protect themselves when they are not in public view but lead their congregation astray. There are fakes news about Bill Gates being behind coronavirus not exotic animal market in Wuan China. They link the virus and vaccine to attempt by some unseen powers to change their DNA and start to remote control them. They link it to the end-time, if so, why would they want to prevent the end-time by denying the virus is real?

 The new variants (UK and South African variants) that mutated late 2020 has increased the infection rate. While respite has come to the West with the vaccine, only God knows when Nigerians will have access. How can you protect yourself and your loved ones? I shared a piece at the onset of the disease last year, below are a few points that can help.

There are a number of people mostly at risk of contracting the virus, if you are within this group or know family members who are, please, take steps or help these people:

1. If you are above 65 years
2. If you have pre-existing conditions that compromises your immune system
3.  If you have certain sicknesses like high blood pressure and diabetes combined. You can die from complications from these diseases induced by coronavirus infection like runaway sugar level and uncontrollable high pressure.
4. Everyone, for that matter. There is no data on how asymptomatic and symptomatic patients who survived coronavirus infection will fare after recovery. The best solution is to ensure you are not infected, irrespective of your age.

 How can you protect yourself and others?

1. Everyone needs to wear a mask (face shield alone is not effective), if possible two - the new variants going around now is more contagious, one mask is not sufficient to curb its spread. 
2. Practice social distancing – at least six feet apart from people. No social gathering including church/mosque if social distancing is not possible. People had returned to partying when I went home, they attend church as if things were normal and they keep spreading the disease. Only go to events that are necessary – grocery stores, clinic, office - if they have policy of protecting staff.
3.  Get tested as soon as you have symptoms and isolate yourself if you return a positive test result
4. Stay home if you have feverish feeling and any other symptoms (loss of sense of small, muscle pain and others) that resemble covid-19 infection until you are sure you are not infected. Doing so, you protect others that could potential catch the virus from you and you help curb its spread.
5. Take the vaccine when it is available and ensure you take it from a reliable source because there will be fake vaccine or improperly stored ones that would have lost potency.
6.  Participate in spreading the correct and scientifically proven information about COVID-19 and the vaccine. Do not join in spreading misinformation and unauthenticated news.