When it was announced that an index coronavirus patient had been identified in Lagos, a cynic said he felt that Nigerians had been angling to have what you may describe as their own “equal time” victim of the disease that was first announced in China.
Maybe to humour the cynic, a Nigerian national newspaper cast the headline, “When coronavirus arrived in Lagos.” The next thing is to do the Yoruba refrain for an honoured guest, “A tíì nretii re. Kaabo. se daada lè dé?”
If you render this in English, it will have to be, “We’ve been anticipating your arrival. Welcome. Hope you had a safe journey?” A friend would have described it as a negative, if not a dubious, achievement.
Strangely, author Dean Koontz, had somewhat predicted, in his novel, ‘The Eye of Darkness,’ which was published in 1981, that “In 2020, a severe pneumonia-like illness, (which he code-named Wuhan-400), will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.” Wuhan, in China, is the first city to record the illness.
To their credit, both the Federal and the Lagos State Governments have been up-front, honest and frank, in releasing information and promptly deploying men, materials and processes in anticipating and tackling the onset of the coronavirus in Nigeria.
An index case, or patient zero, is the first patient of a communicable or heritable disease to be identified in a group or community. He is the first patient to be documented in the onset of an epidemiological investigation of a condition or syndrome.
Reports from the Lagos State Ministry of Health confirmed Nigeria’s index case of the coronavirus on February 27, 2020. The index patient, reported to be an Italian is a consultant to a cement factory in Ogun State. The Lagos State Government successfully tracked him from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport to neighbouring Ogun State.
He arrived in Nigeria from Milan, Italy, on the night of the 24th through the 25th of February, fell ill on the 26th and was transferred to the Lagos State Biosecurity facility for isolation and testing.
Section 45(1)(a) of Nigeria’s Constitution provides for the restriction of the movements of the index patient “in the interest of… public safety,… or public health.” His infection was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, which is designated as one of the facilities of the Laboratory Network of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The patient is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos. That is the facility that quarantined and managed those medical officers who attended to Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, the index Ebola patient, whose treatment unfortunately led to the death of Dr Ameyo Adadevoh and others.
To tackle this disease, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has appointed himself Coronavirus Incident Commander and the Lagos State Ministry of Health is in collaboration with a multi-sectoral Coronavirus Preparedness Group led by the NCDC.
These agencies are reported to be “strengthening measures to ensure that any outbreak in Lagos is controlled and contained quickly.” They have also been primed to “immediately activate the State Emergency Operations Centre to respond to this (type of) case and implement firm control measures.”
The Ogun State Government has reportedly tracked down and quarantined 28 of the 100 individuals that the index patient may have interacted with. This number may increase by the time those who travelled on the same aircraft with him are found.
The facility of the cement factory that he visited is under bio-security surveillance.
The World Health Organisation defines the coronavirus, or COVID-19, or CoV, as “a large family of viruses that cause illnesses, ranging from the common cold, to more severe diseases, such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.”
MERS, of extremely rare occurrence, but sometimes fatal respiratory illness, is often spread through close contact with a victim. But SARS, caused by the coronavirus, is transmitted through droplets that enter the air when a patient coughs, sneezes or talks.
SARS was first recorded in China in 2002, but it has not reoccurred since 2004. WHO states that “Common signs of coronavirus infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory symptoms, kidney failure, and even death.”
But frightening reports, however, indicate that the index case patient, who is reported to be clinically stable, with no serious symptoms, by the way, contemplated escaping from the quarantine facility because of “poor facilities, excessive heat and mosquitoes.”
Whereas the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, had earlier claimed that the isolation bay “is a lab that can accommodate 100 (patients) for now… (And added that) we are ready, we are equipped,” a whistle blowing senior health worker in the facility has a different opinion.
The health worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed, “There is nothing in (the isolation room) aside from bed and hospital locker.” He, or she, added that the level of preparedness in Lagos State, for infectious diseases, such as coronavirus and Lassa fever “is zero.”
Anyway, the Lagos State Government seems to have acknowledged that the isolation facility may not be up to par and it has moved the index coronavirus patient to a better facility. Even if it was in reaction to a hoax, that prompt action should be commended.
Although the government has been handling the communication aspect of this coronavirus index case detection expertly, it must come up with clearer communication about the operational status of the isolation facility or whatever redeeming measures it has taken.
After all, a working definition of public relations is, “good deeds publicly acknowledged.” If the government fails to promptly communicate its redeeming actions to the public, especially in this season of possible epidemic, it could certainly lead to general panic.
But more importantly is the need to intensify communication with the public about a possible outbreak of a coronavirus epidemic, how to avoid contracting the disease and what to do if the unwanted occurs.
Apart from the communication from Lagos State Governor Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, Hamzat, and Commissioner for Health, Prof Akinola Abayomi, and the bland delivery of the Federal Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, too much of the communication is left to the social media natives, who thrive on the mundane and sensationalism.
Yes, Lagos State Government and NCDC have established dedicated toll free telephone numbers that citizens can call, in case of any emergencies, and the Federal Ministry of Health has stepped up surveillance at entrypoints, like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Abuja airports.
And, yes, NCDC has released a series of coronavirus health advisories telling Nigerians how to avoid the disease; what to do in case of infection; Frequently Asked Questions on coronavirus and how medical officers can protect themselves. Yet, there is a need for more massive media campaigns, as reminders, for the benefit of the citizens.
You see, the social media seizure of the coronavirus communication space will only create hysteria and so much sound, without significant light. Recall that citizens died of panic at the Ejigbo canal in Lagos, not from the bomb blasts at faraway Ikeja Cantonment.
Government must actively play on the social media platforms, and run advertorials in the conventional media, to allay the fears of obviously frightened Nigerians.
