Medical Experts Doubt NCDC Covid-19 Figures, Warn Against Reopening Airports, Schools, Others

The Chairman, National Technical Committee on COVID-19, Prof Oyewale Tomori, and some medical experts have said reopening of the economy based on the figures being given by National Centre for Disease Control poses a threat to the country.

The medical professionals said the daily figures from the NCDC should not be believed because they do not not represent the true situation of coronavirus in the country.

Tomori and other experts spoke on at the ongoing annual general meeting of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, University College Hospital chapter, Ibadan.

Speaking  on the theme, Science and Mis-Science of COVID-19, Tomori, who is a renowned virologist, said the NCDC gave figures without giving the details of other things. 

Tomori, who delivered the lecture online, said some of the misinformation about the virus should be discarded.

He said, ” NCDC gave us that we reached our peak in July and infection rate has been declining . We need to take this with a pinch of salt.

“NCDC gives us figures without giving us the details of what is happening.”

The Chairman, UCH Response Team on COVID-19, Prof Kayode Osungbade, also faulted the accuracy of the figures being given at the federal level as well as at state level.

He said Oyo State has moved from mobile mass testing to static testing sites, saying with this the number of test done would reduce.

He said any figure received from this would not be enough to give the true  state of things. 

According to him, any decision based on these figures will not be good because the figures are lot entirely correct. 

Osungbade said, ” Reopening the airports, the schools, the universities and clubhouses is a threat.”

He said the nation needed  to be cautious so that the country would not be forced to lockdown again. 

The Chairman of the ocassion, Prof Samuel Omokhodion, said Nigeria should not rush to reopen the economy.

He said rushing to reopen might cause a spike in infection rate , saying this would still have a damaging effect on the economy.

He said some European countries rushed to reopen their beaches and the infection rate surged after that. 

He said, ” I hope we will not have to go back  to lockdown.  It is better to err on the side of caution.”

The Chairman, MDCAN, UCH chapter, Dr Dare Olulana, said government must be cautious in arriving at any decision on reopeing or not reopening the economy because any decision hastily taken would hurt the whole nation.

He said students could not be kept at home for so long because of the danger this posed to the future of the kids and the country.