The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has pleaded with residents to adhere strictly to social distancing guidelines to curb the spread of coronavirus.
He stated this on Friday, while noting that Lagos could record as many as 39,000 cases if the guidelines were not followed strictly.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), there are presently 44 confirmed cases in the state.
The commissioner said that out of the 44 confirmed cases in the state, 70 per cent were male, while 30 per cent were female, adding that 84 per cent of the imported cases were Nigerians.
Speaking at a briefing, Abayomi said, “Our mathematical modelling shows that the worst-case scenario is that we may see up to 39,000 cases in Lagos, but if everyone practises good social distancing, the figure will be limited to 13,000.
“If we add social distancing to active contact tracing, then we will be able to bend the curve further. The figures may seem alarming at this point, but this is just to emphasise to the Lagos community to follow instructions of the incident commander to make sure that we practice social distancing.
“Looking at the same timeframe from the introduction of the index case, you can see that Lagos State is not seen anywhere near what Spain, Italy, and Iran are showing. So, at weeks two and three of our index case, we are flat; and at week four, we have 37 cases; while at the same fourth week, Italy, Iran, and Spain had more than 20, 000 cases.”
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