The Federal Government has been urged to increase surveillance at the country’s borders and ports towards checkmating the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
An American-based Health Management Expert, Tony Ismama, gave the advice, on Monday, while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
Ismama opined that inspite of the fact that the Presidential Task Force (PTF) was following the global best practice in its current campaign against the spread of coronavirus, “it is important that surveillance is heightened at the nation’s borders and ports to avoid the importation of fresh genes of the virus to the country.
“We appreciate the efforts of the government at all of the airports across the country, but we think that the existing surveillance at the airports should be further upgraded to increase accuracy and reduce the time it takes for travellers who must have spent several hours, sometimes days on the trips.
“I returned to the country a fortnight ago and I want to say that the officials at the point of entry demonstrated full commitment to the job, but they need to do a bit more so they can gain speed and better accuracy in their work,” he said.
Ismama said there was the need for the government to replicate and strengthen surveillance at all of the entry and exit points at all our borders all across the country “because we want the same results across the country.”
He restated that such effort would help to reduce the incidences of continual importation of fresh versions of the virus by some asymptomatic carriers that could further complicate the rate of infections in the country.
He said it was disheartening that despite the rigorous effort that was being put into the fight to end the spread of the deadly virus by PTF, the complacent nature of majority of Nigerians in carrying out their daily activities was causing a huge setback that was snowballing into the second wave of the virus in the country.
“Nigerians have largely refused to embrace the new normal way of life and it is only if leaders at all levels would wake up to their responsibilities in the country by showing the right way to go that the devastating effects of the second waves of the killer virus can elude the country,” he said.
