Editorial Column
Opinion: Two Sides of Preparedness & Panic During Virus Attacks
The news that Coronavirus had finally found its way to Nigerian shores was received by Nigerians in an ‘at last’ manner.
While the news reported day after day that it had been found in this country or that, there was an air of inevitability that it would soon get to Nigeria.
As a nation that thrives on hope though, there was also the silent hope that it would not. That’s why news of the African immune system being too strong for the virus trended. That’s why news that chloroquine could kill the virus trended. Hope.
But there’s so little that hope can achieve when preparedness is poor. When the Minister of Health announced that the country was ready to battle the virus if it came to Nigeria, a number of young people online took him to the cleaners. For a nation that battles with fundamentals, a virus that had defied the bigger and better-prepared countries was not something to trifle with.
Read Also: Coronavirus: Price of Face mask and Sanitizer gel increases
When the virus finally hit Nigerian shores with an Italian man as its vehicle, we were half prepared.
Credit to the Ministry of Health and the Lagos State Government for the prompt response as well as the Ogun state government for shutting down the workplace visited by the man and placing everyone on quarantine, but could we have prevented this if like the other countries, we paid attention to those coming into the country and from where? Probably.
So far so good, it would appear as if the response has been top-notch. What’s next is to dial down on the panic front.
There’s no denying that this virus is deadly but as with the Ebola situation, panic makes people desperate and desperate people create more problems.
Panic will make people spread false news about the solution and false solutions. It will make them try to evade health authorities who can help them rather than submit themselves to them to stop the spread of the virus.
Panic can affect the economy too. Apart from sellers of disinfectants and face masks that have allegedly increased prices by over 300%, the more companies this virus hits, the more we have to shut down. The company in Ewekoro is just a start. If the panic continues, more workplaces will be affected and the economy can suffer.
The onus is on all that know better to help communities and friends around them dial down on the panic while concerted efforts are made to track down the contact points of the Italian man, and stop the virus from spreading.
James Ogunjimi
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
