By Olusegun Olanrewaju, Cajetan Mmuta, Ben Ogbemudia and Jude Idu
Despite global warnings of a dangerous trend, Nigerians are treating the Third Wave Covid-19 onslaught with kid gloves.

Experts are warning against such complacency, and it remains to be seen whether that would stick with the populace to avoid a possible health disaster like the case of India.

There is panic across the world over the devastating effects of the third wave of the pandemic branded ‘Delta Variant’.
Globally, the Covid-19 calamity has recorded 202,462,498 confirmed cases and 4,286,016 deaths.

A clear case of an emergency response to the crushing weight of the Delta Corona virus strain has been demonstrated by former American president, Barack Obama, who last week scaled down his 60th birthday celebrations because of increasing infections.

Also, Australian Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, raised the alarm that the Delta Coronavirus outbreaks have created a ‘pandemic of the un-vaccinated’’.

But these warnings appear not to be drawing the ears of Nigerians who have continued to live as if nothing is at stake on the new Corona virus wave, according to findings.

To demonstrate the danger lying ahead, the Presidential Steering Committee on Covid-19 has even placed six states on the Red Alert.

The states are Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Kaduna, Kano and Plateau, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The problem
Concerns about COVID-19 transmission have reignited after the deadly Delta variant caused a sharp spike in cases in the country in recent weeks.

According to the latest statistics from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 177,615 confirmed cases had been recorded as of last Friday since the index case hit the country early last year.

The data also showed that 165,472 persons had been discharged, while 2,185 persons had lost their lives as a result of the virus.

Only about one per cent of Nigeria’s population of no fewer than 200 million has been vaccinated so far, experts say.

Low vaccination rate is being complemented by the industrial action embarked upon by resident doctors in public hospitals.

The ‘red alert’ directive followed the confirmation of the Delta Variant, and the rising number of infections and hospitalisation in the country.

According to the national anti-Covid committee, the announcement of emergency was part of government’s preventive measures to contain the third wave of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the PSC has warned that all the states should heighten their preparedness in the enforcement of all protocols, given the nature of the variant.

The committee said the steps were “critical as we begin to see worrisome early signs of increasing cases in Nigeria.’’

As if to confirm the trend, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, a week ago, said the state had recorded six COVID-19 related deaths within two days.

According to him, 4,437 tests were conducted as of July 31, out of which 519 new COVID-19 infections were confirmed.

Akwa Ibom joined the race for Covid infection hotspot outside of Lagos as the third wave of the virus rages.

According to statistics, Akwa Ibom has 587 active cases, next to Lagos’s 4,811, as of July 31.

The third state with the most active cases is Oyo, with 212 cases. Rivers has 162 cases.

The NCDC said there were no additional COVID-19 related deaths as of Saturday, keeping the death toll at 2,149.

Apart from Lagos and Akwa Ibom, 497 new cases were reported from 15 states and the FCT.

Apathy
Despite the recent upsurge in the spread of cases of the third phase of Covid-19 pandemic, many Nigerians seem to have forgotten so soon about the deadly effects of the ailment that has sent millions to their early graves.

Checks in Awka, the Anambra State capital and adjoining towns, show that the public have since relaxed in complying with the anti-Covid procedures.
In markets, motor parks, hospitals, churches, tourism centres and other business outlets ThisNigeria findings showed that people have ignored the initial safety protocols.

They hardly use face masks, wash their hands with running water, and keep to social distancing in public places.

Our correspondent who visited the Eke Awka Market, Odimegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH), Amaku as well as the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka, observed people cared less about the pandemic.

Only a few persons wore face their masks.
At some commercial banks visited, customers were forced to use their face masks before entering the banking halls.

Romanus Okolie, a commercial bus driver, told ThisNigeria, “I’m afraid this sickness (Covid) might not be real because we have been wearing face masks since the disease was made public.

“Till today, I have not seen anybody suffering from it, apart from what we see on the social media and read in the newspapers.

“I am tired of wearing face masks, and as you can see, people no longer put on face masks.

“That is not even our major problem now; our problem is how to survive the hunger in the land.”

Rosemary Ajuluonye, a housewife, said, “You know it’s not easy, after a long time of Covid-19 entrance into the country, and we have been wearing face masks all along, observing the social distance of a thing.You see, there is no practical evidence of the virus in my neighbourhood.

“We cannot continue like this every day. People are suffering in this country. I agree with the saying that health is wealth, but let there be an effective health system. There must be good hospitals, and there must be means to solve some of these challenges.”

Efforts to get the state Commissioner for Health, Vincent Okpala, to speak on measures being taken by the government to protect citizens from the spread of the third phase of Covid-19, failed as he did not pick his call nor respondent to message sent to his number.

But in the FCT, spiking COVID-19 cases have been unsettling the authorities.

The situation has forced the FCT Administration (FCTA) and residents to seek round-the-clock intervention and protection, findings by one of our correspondents revealed .

Acting Executive Secretary of FCT Primary Healthcare Unit, Dr. Ndaeyo Iwot, confirmed that the government was struggling to deal with the new Delta variant.

“You are also aware that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that the figure showed another 590 cases.

“It is here with us, and I enjoin everyone, professionals and non-professionals, to be careful,” he said.

Iwot recalled that some 535 cases of Corona virus were recorded on July 28; 558 registered on July 29, and 590 cases logged on July 30, which is now the highest daily increase in the country since March 4, 2021 when 708 cases were registered.
His concern is the lack of compliance to Covid-19 protocols by FCT residents.

Iwot stressed that people should not negate policies in order not to help spread the virus.

“I can tell you that we are in for a more dangerous situation as the Nigerian resident doctors down tools, with the confirmation of 407 new infections, which have raised Nigeria’s total infection to 174,315,’’ the executive secretary said.

Also expressing the fears over the situation of residents across the FCT and beyond, Dr. Innocent Ozi of FCT Hospitals and Human Services Management, advised the Federal Government and the FCTA to ensure that resident doctors and other health workers were paid to end their nationwide strike.

“The situation is that the Federal Government and the Ministry of Health should handle the matter urgently before we head for the likes of the USA and other Coronavirus endemic countries.

“It is no longer news that the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has resumed strike to press home its demand for better welfare packages for its members,” Ozi said.

Expert opinion
Public health experts have warned that the Delta variant of COVID-19 first detected in India remains a big threat that could spark a surge of viral infection that would be difficult to contain in Nigeria.

According to the experts, while the country is vulnerable to a new wave of COVID-19 infection due to low vaccination coverage, the Delta variant is of more concern because existing vaccines have not been conclusively proven to be effective against the strain confirmed to be more virulent and more transmissible.

Prof. Martin Emeje, a pharmaceutical research scientist and public health physician, told ThisNigeria that studies and practical experience, especially in India, showed that it is more virulent and difficult to contain because it replicates faster and evades the body’s immunity.

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Emeje added, “In fact, it is 60 per cent more transmissible than other variants, and the faster the transferability, the more difficult it is to contain.

“While the vaccine companies, including scientists with vested interests may jump to tell you that the existing vaccines, which I call ‘experimental vaccines’, are effective against this variant, the truth is that they are all guessing, and this is unfair.

“Until studies are conducted on every new strain, it is unscientific to declare them susceptible to the vaccines.
“So, my answer is, we do not know how effective the current vaccines are against the Delta variant.”

Dr. Taiwo Obembe of the University of Ibadan while corroborating Emeje’s observation, canvassed that the country should immediately begin to put in place measures to contain the variant confirmed to be responsible for a massive resurgence of COVID-19 infections, as well as deaths, in many countries of the world, in the last few weeks.

The danger
Affirming the capability of the Nigerian researchers to discover and make available locally-made vaccines, the Secretary, General Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes, Prof. Timothy Ndubuaku, reiterated the need for the Federal Government to ensure that Nigerians are not ‘wiped out’ by the deadly virus.

“Like I predicted, the disease is not leaving the world soon, because it has started duplicating itself in the human body, which means the vaccine producers must find an advanced means of tackling it.

“And another dangerous part of it is that the entire world was taken unaware. You can see what ordinary malaria does in Africa, and now, Coronavirus, even when no African country can possibly produce any of the vaccines.
“We have cried out passionately, and that was before the Corona entered Africa. We have used every means to make the Federal Government fund local research, but to no avail,’’ Ndubuaku said.

WHO
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Delta variant is now the most transmissible variant of COVID-19 so far.

The global health agency warned that the strain is spreading massively around the world, particularly among unvaccinated people.

Already classified as ‘variant of concern’, WHO said the Delta variant has already spread to 96 countries, as of June 29.

Speaking during a virtual briefing on COVID-19 last Friday, the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, said there was a lot of concern about the Delta variant.

“As some countries ease public health and social measures, we are starting to see increases in transmission around the world,’’ he said.

For Mrs. Ngozika Obumneme, a civil servant resident in the FCT, she looks up to God to save the country.

She said, “Nigerian authorities cannot just fold their arms and wait. This is because during the first and second waves, many African countries were battling with shortage of vaccines, and here we are with the third variant, even when one third of Nigerians could not have access to the first phase of vaccines”.