Coronavirus: Analyst Cautions NCDC Against Misleading the Public

Ololade Adeyanju/

A public affairs analyst, Dr. Charles Omole, has cautioned the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) against continued emphasis on the fact that people with recent travel history to high burden countries are more at risk of contracting coronavirus.

Omole said in a tweet this morning that such messages are misleading and could give a false sense of security to potential secondary and indirect contacts and consequently lead to a spike in the rate of local transmission of the infection.

He said the messages could also mislead those who have not travelled recently into believing only recent foreign travellers are exposed to the infection.

He tweeted, “I absolutely agree & support NCDC message. But we need to be careful not to give false hope for those who have not traveled recently into thinking only recent foreign travellers can catch this. Many infections would have been caused by secondary & indirect contacts. All be safe.”

The NCDC had consistently emphasised in its sensitisation messages that the coronavirus infection is usually associated with travel history to a country with confirmed cases.

One of the centre’s most recent social media messages reads, “Common symptoms of coronavirus disease are cough, breathing difficulty & fever

This is usually associated with travel history to a country with confirmed cases or contact with a confirmed case.”