A Virologist, Prof. Sunday Omilabu, has advised Nigerians not to panic over arrival of Chinese medical team in Nigeria, saying their presence will strengthen Nigeria’s response against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Omilabu, a Professor of Medical Virology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, gave the advice on Thursday, during an online interactive session with the Health Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HEWAN).
He said that presence of the Chinese team was to assist the country with the installation of equipment and calibration of such equipment to yield better and accurate results.
“It is part of agreement that when you buy equipment, you request for an expert to install and calibrate the equipment.
“I believe this is one of the reasons why we have the Chinese invited.
“Of course, we have been controlling the COVID-19 pandemic effectively in the country. We have been able to diagnose, treat and even have success stories of recoveries.
“But, we believe that by inviting the Chinese team, they will bring more of the consumables for us to use in treating the patients, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and detecting reagents,” he said.
Omilabu, who also serves as a Principal Investigator/Consultant to the Lagos State Biobank, said that the Chinese medical team would also assist to install ventilators that was donated to Nigeria by a Chinese company.
He added that there was no cause for alarm with such experts around to assist with technical know-how and knowledge sharing.
On his assessment of Nigeria’s response to COVID-19 pandemic, Omilabu said that the country was doing excellently well in detecting promptly.
He said that the Federal Government had positioned consumables and patients were being managed at various isolation centres.
“Of course, we can see that we have been discharging some of the patients, that is a mark of success story.
“Patients are isolated promptly, diagnosed promptly, and many of them are getting better and are being discharged.
“We should not relent on our oars; we need to put in more efforts so that we don’t allow the virus to stay in our communities, stem the tide of community transmission to have peace of mind,” Omilabu said.
The virologist noted that after the expiration of the 14 days restriction of movement ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun, the public should not relent in maintaining hygiene through constant handwashing.
“We can’t say that the virus can be completely eliminated, we have to keep on waging war and be conscious of the fact that there is the possibility of having the virus around.
“That is why we need to be on guard, take care of ourselves; we still don’t need to mingle, reduce the crowd, that’s the only way to stop the virus transmission,” he said.
Omilabu advised that social distancing should still be practiced and face masks should be worn by those showing respiratory symptoms toward controlling the spread of COVID-19.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visiting 15-member medical team from China arrived in Abuja on April 8.
Among the personnel are experts in infectious diseases, respiratory illness, intensive care, cardiology, neurology, general surgery and anesthesiology.
They arrived with 16-ton of test kits, ventilators, disinfection machine, disposable medical masks, drugs, infrared thermometer and other items ordered by the Federal Government.
Under the directive of the Embassy of China in Nigeria and in response to the Federal Government’s request, the team would share with their Nigerian counterparts effective methods on COVID-19 containment.
The team would commence their stay in Nigeria by spending 14 days in quarantine, as expected for travellers that come into the country.
