COVID-19 and Nigeria: Putting the realities in context

Ohia, Chinenyenwa; Bakarey, Adeleye S.; Ahmad, Tauseef

Abstract Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) which was previously known as 2019-novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was first reported in Wuhan,China in December, 2019. As at today the disease has evolved into a serious global emergency leading to its declaration as a pandemic recently. Body On the African continent, Nigeria is just experiencing the direct effects of this pandemic having recorded her index case in February, 2020 with an increasing number of cases by the day and current case fatality ratio of 0.03 as at 13 April, 2020. Although the recorded cases may albeit seem low, it has been forecasted that Africa will have a fair share of the worst effects of this disease by the end of the pandemic. Generally, African countries have fragile health systems and this remains a source of concern especially in the event of increased outbreaks. Nigeria's current national health systems cannot effectively respond to the growing needs of already infected patients requiring admission into Intensive care units (ICUs) for Acute Respiratory Diseases (ARDs) and SARS COV-2 pnuemonia. This has grim implications for Nigeria especially as increased cases that may require critical care looms. The provision of quarantine or isolation facilities can also be a challenge in Africa and availability of rapid diagnostic kits for fast and reliable testing and diagnosis of the disease. Conclusion There is an urgent need to put in perspective the realities peculiar to Nigeria, and explore available collective measures and interventions to address the Coronavirus pandemic.