Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, has dismissed the rumoured resurgence of COVID-19 in the country, stating that there is no scientific research record to back the claims.
Professor Pate disclosed this at the maiden public lecture series of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo in Benue State where he was represented by his Senior Special Adviser, Mr Emmanuel Oduh on Friday.
“The diagnosis of COVID is a scientific process. It is not something that is subjective and you speculate about. There could be speculations but once investigations are conducted and it is confirmed that it is not a case of COVID, it is not COVID,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria has in the past fared well in combating pandemics such as the Ebola virus and then COVID-19 in 2020.
“First, there came the Ebola virus. Nigeria was number one or thereabouts in its control. And then in COVID-19, we did not fare badly at all. Our performance despite the status of our health sector, is among the best in the world,” he added.
The minister who tasked the first Nigeria-dedicated medical university established to train a skilled medical workforce in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, says a lot is expected from their mandate.
The school’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Innocent Ujah also said thirty consultants have been engaged to train over three hundred skilled health workers.
Earlier in the week, the Governor of Benue State, Mr Hyacinth Alia, denied the rumoured resurgence of the disease in the state after a widespread rumour on social media that caused panic in the state.
Dismissing the rumour during the inauguration of the Psycho-social Support Clinic for Mental Health at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makrurdi and the flag off of the Federal Government solar power supply project on Thursday, Governor Alia warned of dire consequences for purveyors of fake news.
While assuring members of the society to disregard the fake news, the governor threatened to deal with any youth caught with the intention of de-marketing Benue state with false information targeted at lowering the state.
