Rate of Covid-19 infections during #EndSARS protests will be clear in two weeks –NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has declared that a clear picture of the number of Covid-19 infections during the #EndSARS protests over police brutality and bad governance will be known in the next two weeks.

This was disclosed on Monday by the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chike Ihekweazu who also disclosed that the curfew imposed by state governments to halt violence, looting and destruction of property have slowed down testing for COVID-19.

Dr Ihekweazu who was speaking at a media briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja stated that there was an expected spike in COVID-19 cases on account of the nationwide street protests.

READ ALSO: Be mindful of COVID-19 infection risk, NCDC warns #EndSARS protesters

He said; “Forty to 60 per cent of our testing cases are reported from Lagos. Our labs in Lagos have not been able to perform as they normally would for the past two to three weeks.

“As we move into the next two weeks, it will not take a rocket scientist to know that we have to watch the numbers very carefully.

“The reasons are obvious; we have gathered in our masses for whatever reason and for now, we have to keep our eyes open for the potential consequences. Those consequences are not inevitable; we can still do our part to prevent them.”

Encouraging Nigerians against despondency, the DG said, “We cannot let down our guards; we cannot afford to add this to the many challenges that we have. Many states have done well by raising their testing capacity. So, we must stay on the ball.”

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