COVID-19: Africa CDC Boss Sees Brighter Days Ahead, Urges Caution
Admits ‘Signs of hope” as caseloads levels off in continent
NCDC boss, Ihekweazu briefs NEC, Govs Forum
The Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC), Dr John Nkengasong, has spoken of a “sign of hope”, as the daily coronavirus caseload on the continent begins to level off.
The continent-wide daily average was 10,300 last week, down from 11,000 the week before, reports the BBC.
So far, the coronavirus tracker Africa has now registered 1,148,423 cases with a 250,560 deaths and 871,196 people having recovered from the disease.
As the number of continent-wide daily cases continue to drop this week, Dr Nkengasong, who called for cautious optimism, said; “We are beginning to bend the curve slowly.”
He however told the BBC that; “But it’s very, very early – we are dealing with a very delicate virus that spreads rapidly. We take this news with cautious optimism.”
The ACDC Chief said the cheerjng news of Africa beginning to slowly “bend the curve” of COVID-19 infections were results of conscious efforts and measures that include; mask-wearing and social distancing.
He said these measures are aiding efforts by respective governments to check and slow down the spread of the pandemic on the continent.
Although the spread of COVID-19 outbreak was slow in Africa in the early stages, the rate of infection gradually accelerated, especially in South Africa, which now accounts for more than half of its case load of more than 1.1 million.
On average, there were signs of a decline in new infections across Africa over the last two weeks, said Nkengasong, adding; “So I think that is really some sign of hope that we are beginning to bend the curve slowly. We take this news with cautious optimism.”
Tweets by @NCDCgov
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@NCDCgov
📢 COMING UP!!!
Join our Head of Disease Surveillance, @ElsieIlori on @TVCconnect ‘Breakfast Show’ tomorrow for updates on Nigeria’s response to the pandemic. #TakeResponsibility
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Replying to @NCDCgov
A breakdown of cases by state can be found via http://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng #TakeResponsibility
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476 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;
50,964 confirmed
37,569 discharged
992 deaths
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The #NCDCRRT supported the Kogi State Ministry of Health in a SORMAS training for #COVID19 Disease Surveillance & Notification Officers, EOC members & pillar leads.
NCDC remains committed to strengthening digital disease data management across states.#TakeResponsibility
NCDC Retweeted – Chikwe Ihekweazu
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@Chikwe_I
Grateful for opportunity to brief National Economic Council today on invitation of HEVP @ProfOsinbajo
Briefed Executive Governors on #COVID19 response activities in states, activation of more labs, est. of more sample collection centres & other priorities to sustain the response https://twitter.com/NigeriaGov/status/1296400821333241862
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At @PTFCOVID19 briefing today, NCDC’s Head of Surveillance, @ElsieIlori announced the roll-out of an automated platform to check #COVID19 negative results, in FCT after successful pilot.
“Positive cases are communicated by the state to ensure psychosocial counseling is done”
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This week, our Public Health Emergency Operation Centre team commenced training & mentoring of @Covid19Adamawa core/surge staff on #PHEOC management
We aim to strengthen state capacity in health emergency operations, incident management system & PHEOC activation within 120 mins.
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Other diseases of public health importance such as #cholera are still being reported in various states of the country.
Our Weekly Epidemiological Report #NCDCWER for week 31 focuses on preventive measures for #cholera amidst #COVID19 pandemic.
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The #COVID19Nigeria situation report for 19th August, 2020 has been published.
Our daily #COVID19 situation reports provide a summary of the epidemiological situation & response activities in Nigeria.
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On the NCDC #COVID19 microsite you can find the latest guidelines with useful information & advice for:
Health workers
Businesses
Schools
Parents
& more
Visit http://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/guideline to download
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“The progress of Nigeria as a nation is dependent on our collective effort as a people. Global collaboration & local cooperation is critical to win the fight against #COVID19”
DG @Chikwe_I on Nigeria’s response to the pandemic with @ARISEtv
📺https://youtu.be/ZRqWCSPyUrU
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Replying to @NCDCgov
A breakdown of cases by state can be found via http://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng #TakeResponsibility
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Today, we concluded an assessment of public health emergency operations centers (PHEOC) in Lagos, Bauchi, Osun, Edo, and Delta States for optimisation.
In line with our mandate, we remain committed to strengthen sub-national capacity to manage infectious disease outbreaks.
