Moses Emorinken, Abuja
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed that data available to it suggests that transmission of the COVID-19 virus is less likely outdoor than it is when people are gathered indoors.
Noting that the case fatality in the country is dropping, the agency further revealed that following the election in Edo state few weeks ago, there have not been a spike of cases in the state.
It therefore urged Nigerians to continue to observe the recommended protocols of wearing of face masks outside the home.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, made this known on Thursday in Abuja, during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
He said, “We are fairly happy with the recovery rate among patients. Case fatality ratio is coming down, which is a good sign. But always have to remain careful and watchful and have our guards up because of what is happening globally, and the fact that we have opened up our airspaces, in order to prevent a second wave of infections in Nigeria.
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“We continue to look at the data coming out of Edo state, and we have not seen a spike of cases. What is kind of becoming a little bit clearer is that transmission outside is a lot less likely than in indoor settings. When you see a crowd of people outside, the risk of transmission is not zero, and we continue to encourage everyone to wear masks, but we are much more worried when people are in indoor spaces without masks, than when they are outside.
“For us in Nigeria, for the past three to four months, we have always worked from the premise that airborne transmission is possible. The major route of transmission has been droplet, but airborne transmission is definitely possible and it has been scientifically evidenced for many weeks now.
“Generally, our recommendation is still that everyone should wear masks as often as possible, especially when outside the house.”
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