Coronavirus: Why Nigeria Must Avoid China, Italy Styled Lockdown

On February 27, 2020 the first index case of coronavirus was identified in Nigeria. He is an Italian, coming from Milan one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic in Italy.

Nigeria’s NCDC deserved commendation for all the efforts it was making to identify all the passengers that were in the same Turkish Airline plane that brought the Italian to Nigeria. Despite several challenges and many difficulties the NCDC and some medical officials of the Lagos State government have been able to reach many of the passengers in the same plane with the index case. Several days after the Italian tested positive to coronavirus in Nigerian soil, all other tests proved negative including that conducted on three Chinese in Plateau State. It was as if the God of Nigeria is up again to protect the people from a pandemic that seems pretty obvious that Nigeria’s pathetic health system could not handle even in the best of time. Then the sad news came, that a Nigerian in Ogun State has also tested positive to coronavirus.

The minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire confirmed this on Tuesday March 10, 2020. He said that he is someone who had contact with the first index case. It became obvious that Nigerians are not immune from the virus and that indeed our leaders and health officials must be up and doing to avoid coronavirus pandemic. Our leaders must ensure that they don’t drop their guard in stopping the virus from gaining grounds in Nigeria, because the implications will not only be dire,

it will be catastrophic.

Nigeria’s medical system and facilities are not half as good and efficient as that of China, the world’s second biggest economy with its enormous technological innovations. Despite their enormous medical capacity and capability coronavirus rattled the Chinese and literarily crippled their economy as many cities were locked down.

Around 500 million people in China are currently affected by policies put in place restricting movement, to contain the coronavirus. That’s more than the entire population of the United States and is equivalent to roughly 6.5% of the world’s population.  At least 48 cities and four provinces in China have issued official notices for lockdown policies, with measures ranging from “closed-off management”, where residents of a community have to be registered before they are allowed in or out, to restrictions that shut down highways, railways and public transport systems.

The lockdowns began with Wuhan - the epicenter of the outbreak and where half the world’s confirmed coronavirus cases are. After the city’s borders were closed on Jan. 23 and all incoming and outgoing flights cancelled, other nearby cities in Hubei province also implemented their own policies restricting the movement of people.

Altogether, 80.41 million people have been affected by shut bus or metro lines. Some communities have instituted curfews or only allow people to exit and enter at particular times. There is even a restriction where only a certain number of people from a household can leave their residence at any one time. The COVID-19 coronavirus has led to an unprecedented lockdown on the movement of people.

Italy has been put under a dramatic total lockdown, as the coronavirus spreads in the country. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he is extending restrictions already in place in the north. "All the measure of the red zones are now extended to all of the national territory," Conte said at a press conference as he also announced a ban on all public events. The Prime Minister said the move was taken in order to protect the population, and especially the most fragile individuals. His announcement came at the end of a chaotic day that saw prison riots across the country.

Total number of deaths caused by coronavirus in Italy has risen to 463.

The lockdown so far has already produced damaging ripple effects in the country. Inmates overran a number of prisons

escaping their facilities and kidnapping officers,

after visitors were banned in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. Multiple inmates have died in the uproar,

which swept 22 prisons.

If China and Italy with one of the best health systems in Europe could be this shaken medically and economically,

how then could the inhabitants of the poverty capital of the world survive coronavirus of Italian or Chinese proportion? It is unimaginable. That is why our leaders must do everything possible to contain the virus before it gets out of hand.

Government must show proactivity and not wait till it is too late. How many Quarantine Centers does Nigeria have and where are they located? This critical information should already be available to Nigerians before now, so that anyone that develops symptoms of coronavirus will know the Quarantine Center closest to him or her to report for testing and possibly quarantined for treatment and to prevent the spread of the virus. By now how the people could protect themselves should have saturated the media, but that is not the case. By now Nigeria should have put Italy and China under travel ban as some other countries have done. The economic consequences of Italian and Chinese styled lockdown may send this country back to recession amidst falling global price of oil that oils the wheel of Nigeria’s economy. It is good that President Muhammadu Buhari has set up a committee on the economic impact of the virus, but their job will make no sense if the country is overwhelmed by the virus thereby necessitating a lockdown of the country.