The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control has said the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown was a ‘pretty tough decision’ to make but it was imperative because of the adverse effect of the lockdown on the nation’s economy.
This was disclosed by Emmanuel Benyeogor, coordination assistant, Incidents Coordination Centre, NCDC while speaking during a training for journalists on COVID-19 prevention response update which was organized by New HIV Vaccine and Microbicides Advocacy Society, NHVMAS.
During the online training, Benyeogor explained that the lockdown needed to be eased for the purpose of allowing economic activities to continue.
He explained that while the cases have been increasing steadily amidst the ‘phase 2 extended stage’ of lockdown, it is imperative that Nigerians take responsibility and adhere to necessary precautions.
He said, “the lockdown is having its impact economically and there was a need to allow economic activities, even the developed countries are active.
“The cases are steadily rising from units to hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands, while there are things beyond our span of control, we need to take responsibility,” he added.
Benyeogor urged the media to propagate messages that will enable citizens to take responsibility for their health and wellness.
“As journalists, you should help to propagate messages that are non pharmacological responses as simple as regular hand washing and use of face mask,” he added.
Also speaking at the training, Bunmi Yekini, Media ambassador, NHVMAS, urged health journalists to specialize in in-depth reporting of health related issues and researches.
Yekini stressed that, “we seems to be lagging as far as HIV is concerned, health journalists only focus on the peripheral but we need to do more and publish reports on researches.”