33 states lack testing labs but Minister says no cause for alarm
33 states lack testing labs but Minister says no cause for alarm
It is no longer news that COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has forced nations across the world to adopt measures in a bid to contain the deadly outbreak. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) declaration of the outbreak as a pandemic forced many countries to review entry by travellers.
From China to the United States, Italy and other high-risk countries, authorities have continued to devise strategies to contain the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, it took Nigeria weeks, despite the clamour by many Nigerians to shut down the airspace and land borders, to take a stand. Nigeria was only able to order restrictions after recording eight confirmed COVID-19 cases.
On March 19, coronavirus cases in the world rose to 244,097, 10,005 deaths while 86,714 recovered, according to data from Worldometer. As of that date, not less than 178 countries were affected by the virus. In Nigeria, a total of 12 persons have been affected including a six-week-old baby while 1, 300 persons are under monitoring. Following the rapid spread of the virus, many of the countries earmarked huge sums of money to fight the disease and also invoked measures to keep their people safe and bring back normalcy to their economies. These countries went as far as limiting international travels while some restricted movement within. For instance, China, where the virus emanated, bore the brunt for weeks. To halt the spread, the country mandated her citizens to remain in their homes for almost 50 days.
