COVID-19 Delta Variant: Don’t Travel for Sallah, NCDC Warns Nigerians

Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has warned Nigerians against travelling next week for the 2021 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.

NCDC’s Head of Risk Communications Division, Dr. Yahya Disu, gave the warning yesterday during a live TV programme.

Disu said the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic started in Nigeria because people travelled for Christmas last December.

He urged Nigerians to avoid unnecessary trips for the Sallah celebrations.

THISDAY had reported deadly Delta variant is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a variant of concern, given its increased transmissibility.

The variant has been detected in over 90 countries and is expected to spread to more countries, according to the NCDC.

Speaking of the third wave, the NCDC official said, “Before now, we knew the third wave was going to be inevitable. Third wave is about having increase in the number of cases. We have had increase and decrease in number of cases before now. So, the third one is starting but what is important is what we are able to do to ensure that we are able to reduce it.”

He urged religious leaders to sensitise their followers on the need to strictly observe COVID-19 protocols in order to prevent rise in recorded infections.

Disu said, “More importantly, Sallah is coming when people just travel and that makes the risk higher in villages, in different parts of the country. So, we need to warn people: they don’t need to travel if it is not necessary, you can celebrate where you are. During Sallah, we go to mosque in large numbers but this is the time we need to be very cautious.

“We are working with the religious organisations. The second wave in Nigeria started because of Christmas, because people travelled for Christmas. So, we can avoid it, we can learn from it. A life that we lost is very important for every one of us, it could be anybody. So, it is not worth it to lose a life because we want to celebrate Sallah or Christmas.”