Lagos State Health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi, says persons
infected with coronavirus can be exercising daily and feel
generally well but are secreting and transmitting the virus
everywhere they go.
He made this known on Saturday during a chat on Channels
Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.
He noted that the state has moved from the imported stage to the
community transmission stage.
He said, “We’ve moved from the imported stage to the community
transmission stage and the virus is now jumping around and it is a
highly contagious virus; it spreads very easily.
“The difference between flu and coronavirus is that if you catch
the flu, you will know you have flu. You’ll be terribly unwell,
there will be no doubt that you are sick.
“Most people don’t actually know they have coronavirus. About
sixty to seventy percent of people have a very mild illness it
might just feel as if you had a rough day but you’re secreting the
virus and therefore you’re transmitting it.
“And therefore a moderate proportion of people have symptoms and
a smaller proportion will have a severe and critical illness. You
could have coronavirus and be jogging. That’s mild it could
be.”
He said the state is aware of the difference in the social
segments of Lagosians and is working on policies suitable for
different strata and parts of the society.
He said, “Every segment of Lagos requires a slightly different
strategy. It can’t be the same cap fits all. Someone in Victoria
Island doesn’t have the same priority as someone in Makoko for
example. What Mr Governor is trying to do is to size up all the
respective situations. He gets his situation analysis every day. He
debates with his cabinet.
“Livelihood is the priority and COVID-19 is just a threat to
livelihood. There are many other threats to livelihood. And so in
life, you balance those threats. And that other threat may be
hunger or other kinds of sicknesses.
“Lockdown is a component of social distancing and there are many
factors to social distancing. What we are trying to do is to reduce
the opportunity for the virus to travel from one person to
another.
“If seventy percent of Lagosians are in the informal sector,
they have no safety net, they live from day-to-day. What they earn
is what they eat, it’s not like a higher social-economic segment
that has reserves.
“It is important that you allow your imaginations to infiltrate
this segment of society and make realistic decisions that don’t
disconnect you from these people. You could have a double assault
in both ways if you make the wrong kind of decisions.”
Lagos State Health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi, says persons
infected with coronavirus can be exercising daily and feel
generally well but are secreting and transmitting the virus
everywhere they go.
He made this known on Saturday during a chat on Channels
Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.
He noted that the state has moved from the imported stage to the
community transmission stage.
He said, “We’ve moved from the imported stage to the community
transmission stage and the virus is now jumping around and it is a
highly contagious virus; it spreads very easily.
“The difference between flu and coronavirus is that if you catch
the flu, you will know you have flu. You’ll be terribly unwell,
there will be no doubt that you are sick.
“Most people don’t actually know they have coronavirus. About
sixty to seventy percent of people have a very mild illness it
might just feel as if you had a rough day but you’re secreting the
virus and therefore you’re transmitting it.
“And therefore a moderate proportion of people have symptoms and
a smaller proportion will have a severe and critical illness. You
could have coronavirus and be jogging. That’s mild it could
be.”
He said the state is aware of the difference in the social
segments of Lagosians and is working on policies suitable for
different strata and parts of the society.
He said, “Every segment of Lagos requires a slightly different
strategy. It can’t be the same cap fits all. Someone in Victoria
Island doesn’t have the same priority as someone in Makoko for
example. What Mr Governor is trying to do is to size up all the
respective situations. He gets his situation analysis every day. He
debates with his cabinet.
“Livelihood is the priority and COVID-19 is just a threat to
livelihood. There are many other threats to livelihood. And so in
life, you balance those threats. And that other threat may be
hunger or other kinds of sicknesses.
“Lockdown is a component of social distancing and there are many
factors to social distancing. What we are trying to do is to reduce
the opportunity for the virus to travel from one person to
another.
“If seventy percent of Lagosians are in the informal sector,
they have no safety net, they live from day-to-day. What they earn
is what they eat, it’s not like a higher social-economic segment
that has reserves.
“It is important that you allow your imaginations to infiltrate
this segment of society and make realistic decisions that don’t
disconnect you from these people. You could have a double assault
in both ways if you make the wrong kind of decisions.”