As Nigerians are going through the widening 4th wave of COVID-19, the FCT Administration has reiterated that the emphasis is still on the non pharmaceutical strategies: such as minimising physical contact, keeping social distances, wearing facemasks, and hand washing, to avoid the escalation of the pandemic.
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In particular, the FCTA noted that the residents and other stakeholders in the nation’s capital city must take precautions, by continuing to be aware of established specific and simple preventive measures.
The Secretary of FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) Dr. Abubakar Tafida, made this point while updating journalists on the 4th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the FCT.
Tafida disclosed that about three weeks ago, the FCTA concluded that the Territory is into the forth wave, following a rising number of cases.
He added that as of Sunday December 19, 2021, FCT had a total of 84 cases, which brought cumulative cases so far confirmed in the FCT since the first wave to about 24,861.
The Secretary said, “Now we have 1,246 active cases. We noted an additional 13 cases in the past 24 hours. In terms of people or cases on admission, we have a total of 105; 92 of this number are in the Dome, 13 at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, this signifies the severity of the conditions, so preparedness is key to effectively handling the pandemic.
“So you can see that within the span of three weeks, we are having almost a thousand plus, so if we continue to neglect these preventive measures, the situation might become very alarming and difficult to handle.
“In our last meeting, we looked at the current situation, the increasing number of cases, what we have been doing, and we have developed strategies, which are in consonance with scientific and other data available to us.
“As we are going through this wave, the emphasis still is we need to take precautions ourselves. This is very important. The public must continue to be aware of these specific and simple preventive measures.
“And we are imploring all stakeholders; security, traditional, religious leaders, people of note , to ensure that they are supporting this effort, by imploring and advising people to continue to observe these measures.”
According to him, “As we are all aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of global upheaval, as there were lots of agitations, destructions , death and socioeconomic hardships.
“The Federal Capital Territory has always been in the firing line, probably it’s only Lagos State that would ahead of us. But in terms of preparedness and providing the leadership and other support, I don’t think there is any state that has exceeded the FCT Administration.
“We are making plans and preparations for expected new cases, and we have adequate bed spaces for what we have forecasted. We made adequate arrangement for both medical and consumable supplies.”
