Nigerian Medical Doctors under the aegis of the Paediatrics Association of Nigeria (PAN) has warned the Federal Government against reopening schools anytime soon.
According to the group, the spiralling cases of the disease and emerging scientific facts make it ill-advised to consider reopening.
The warning was given via a statement by the group’s president, Prof Edward Alikor and Secretary, Dr Petronila Tabansi.
Doctors’ warning against reopening schools:
“Figures from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), show exponential rise in covid19 incidence and deaths. It would appear that Nigeria has, at this time, not reached its peak incidence of the pandemic.
“Obviously, Nigerian health care system is grossly ill-equipped to absorb sudden surges in cases of covid19 in our schools.We are still learning about the effect of covid19 in the human body including the long-term effect of the virus in various organs, even in asymptomatic carriers including children.
“Ghana which reopened its schools three weeks ago has reported 55 new covid19 cases in students of Accra Girls Senior High School alone within 2 weeks of reopening.
The doctors urged the government and school owners to be patient until conditions are safe. They advise that a consistent decline of new infections should be the minimum condition to consider reopening the nation’s schools.
As at midnight of the 22nd of July, Nigeria had recorded 38,344 confirmed cases of covid19 with 813 deaths.
Lagos remains the epicentre of the pandemic. The state has also insisted on keeping worship places and fun houses closed until further notice.
Eateries have strict instructions not to entertain indoor dining. Customers are advised to buy their meals and leave the shops immediately as all chairs and tables have all be removed.
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