South East breaking News
By Steve Unegbu
A Consultant Public Health and Community Medicine Physician, Dr Mrs Ejiro Carol Iwuoha has declared that the responsibility of winning the war against covid-19 is no longer that of the government alone ,but that of men, women ,youths and Children across our communities in Abia state and indeed the Nation ,saying that ,” it is only when we have successfully broken the chain of transmission and flattened the curve that we can say that the war against this unseen enemy is over “
She pointed out that ” Covid-19 is obviously going to be with us for some time .It is therefore pertinent to strongly recommend the ,’ New normal’ to us as follows : Adherence to covid-19 protocols of regular hand washing with soap and water ,use of hand sanitizers and facemasks which provide barrier protection to the wearer ‘s neighbour as well as physical distancing , Early presentation ,covid-19 survivors should be in the vanguard in creating awareness, Avoid stigmatization of people who have recovered from covid-19 ,discourage self-medication ,voluntary testing to enable screening, isolation and notification of positive cases ,those whose results turn out positive should get to the isolation center to access care as well as disregard misleading information from unverified social media sources “
She made this known while delivering a lecture on the theme : ” Covid-19 : Awareness, impact and citizen response in Abia state ,at the 29th Abia Day celebration held at Michael Okpara auditorium ,Umuahia.
She revealed that the virus affects more male than female ,stated the demographics as Male – 33,510 (64%) and Female -19,038(36%) ,even as she pointed out that most affected age group is 31-40 years ,but that the fatalities are higher among older persons especially those with existing underlying co-morbidities like hypertension and diabetes that are more prone to the severe form of the disease, while noting that in Abia state, total confirmed cases is 750 ,Discharged 643 and death 7 .
Dr Iwuoha ,described covid-19 as highly contagious ,with an incubation period of about 14 days ,and a median time of 4-5 days from exposure to symptoms onset ,saying the virus is transmitted from person to person when infected persons sneeze ,cough or via contaminated surfaces ,while listing out the symptoms to include ,fever >38°C ,Headache ,Sneezing /Dry cough ,Catarrh ,general malaise ,fatigue ,shortness of breath ,Diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
According to her , ” Up to 80% of covid-19 infections are Asymptomatic ,15% are mild to moderate cases ,while 5% will be severe ,adding that ,the fact that asymptomatic cases can spread the virus is one factor that continues to propagate the spread of the infection ” she said.
She however ,maintained that ,” The virus can be destroyed with soap and water as well as alcohol based hand sanitizers ” adding that remaining in crowded places promotes the spread of the virus as it has been confirmed to be spread both as a droplet infection as well as airborne infection “
Speaking further, Mrs Iwuoha who received an Award of Recognition of Hard -work by the Governor of Abia state, said ” the awareness was and is still being driven via the mass and print media in the state as well as the social media” while commending the State government ,led by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and the covid-19 inter – ministerial committee ,led by the Secretary to the State government ,Bar. Chris Ezem , for playing important roles by engagement of stakeholders ,notably the Nigerian Medical Association ,the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, leaders of the churches, Tricycles operators ,market unions, enlisting of Transition Committee Chairmen of the 17 local government Areas ,Traditional Rulers ,Provision of palliatives for the indigent in the state, the flag -off of community testing across the 17 local government areas of the state ,as well as the recent flag-off of sensitization campaign across the 17 local government areas of the state “
