The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has reiterated that COVID-19 is real, warning Nigerians not to get infected.
Lai Mohammed said this on Thursday in Abuja during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19.
According to the Minister, many Nigerians are not following the government’s guidelines for the control and prevention of the disease, stressing that the only way not to get infected is by obeying the protocol put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the PTF.
The Minister lamented that many Nigerians are living in denial of the virus and that the only time the update of cases by the NCDC makes “impact on them” is when COVID-19 affects someone they know.
“Pray not to get to the hospital. Pray not to get infected. And the only way you will not get infected is by listening to what the NCDC is saying; to what the PTF is saying,” the minister warned.
He added that “We have repeated several times here: there is no known vaccine for COVID-19; no known medicine for COVID-19; don’t believe what any body is telling you. ”
‘Only Known Vaccine’
Lai Mohammed restated that the “only known vaccine for COVID-19” is following the guidelines rolled out by the NCDC and the PTF such as the use of sanitizers, social distancing, washing of hands and avoiding mass gatherings among others.
“There is no other medicine than this,” he explained, warning that “if you know the experiences of those who have gone through this; who are going through this, you would pray never to be infected with COVID-19.”
As apart of measures to fight the pandemic, Lai said the Ministry of Information and Culture will be doing more advocacy to enlighten Nigerian about the pandemic and how they can prevent and control its spread.
Rising Numbers
On Wednesday night, the NCDC said Nigeria recorded 490 new cases of the novel coronavirus and an additional 31 deaths linked to the virus.
The new figures put total infections in the country at 17,148. Although 5,623 persons have been successfully treated and discharged, 455 casualties have been recorded to the virus, according to the NCDC.
