Lagosians are back on the street in their millions. What will coronavirus do?
The scene in Lagos since May 4 when the federal government relaxed the lockdown imposed to combat COVID-19 has been quite worrisome. From overcrowded bank premises, to bus terminals where passengers are lumped together as they queue for buses, Nigerians appear to be unbothered by the exponential rise in the cases of the virus in the past month.
It appears residents have turned deaf ears to appeals and warnings from the state government on need for strict adherence to the rules – wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing and avoid being incautious to guide against losing the gains achieved so far.
“As a government elected to uphold the security of its citizens, which includes health security, we will not hesitate to review the terms of #EasingTheLockdown if we do not see an improvement in the adherence to our public health guidelines over the next couple of days,” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had warned on Saturday May 9.
The disappointing attitude of many Lagosians who have returned to the streets looked like they are experimenting how to live with the virus or are just not bothered by the government’s appeal for caution and the daily surge.
The danger with relaxing lockdown without strict adherence to the preventive measures is what Nigeria has been experiencing in the past month – spike in cases with 300 new cases range being announced daily by the NCDC.
According to the immediate past president of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Francis Faduyile, a nation battling with inadequate Personal Protective Equipment for health workers, inadequate bed spaces in states for infected people and astronomical rise in cases, easing the lockdown was ill-timed.
Four weeks after millions of Lagos residents return to the streets, the country announced its record highest daily toll of 553 on May 30, Lagos alone accounted for 378 of the cases. Yet, in flagrant disregard for the disturbing surge, Nigerians are throwing caution into the wind – the traffic on the highways have gone worse, the large crowds at public places are becoming worrisome as though COVID-19 has gone
As of Sunday June 7, 101 days since Nigeria started fighting the virus after the index case was recorded on February 27, the number of confirmed cases in the country have risen from 2,558 on May 4 when Nigerians returned to the street to 12,486. An increase of 9,928 in 33 days.
With worship centres now preparing to open in Lagos from June 19 and 21, it remains unclear how the government plans to manage the looming crisis that may overwhelm the nation’s fragile health infrastructure. What is also left to be seen is how the test, track and trace approach of the government will be effectively implemented if the rate of infections goes worse than it is now.
With 6.8 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus across the world and close to 400,000 death toll as of Monday June 8, 2020, it is evident that the journey to normalcy is not in sight yet. This is why the situation in Lagos where people are now slipping back into their pre-virus way of life becomes worrisome. Experts are warning that lifting the lockdown and releasing citizens from their homes who will not comply with measures to sustain the gains, could spell more doom than the danger of shutting them in.
