17th May, 2020
Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, a member of Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BASPHCDA) said many people still believe that COVID-19 “is a fiction’’.
He added that some believed it was a way of getting money for the government.
He has therefore identified COVID-19 denial as one of the greatest challenges in Nigeria.
According to him, health workers who are tracing and treating people with coronavirus have to intensify efforts due to doubts about the potency and existence of coronavirus.
Mohammed, is also the Chairman, Contact Tracing Committee on COVID-19 in Bauchi,
He recounted how one of the three confirmed cases recorded on Friday, May 15 rejected the result.
The said patient also declined to follow the health workers, who went to evacuate him to an isolation centre, insisting he wasn’t positive.
He said that in such a situation, security agents were usually engaged to compel the patient and escort him or her to an isolation centre.
He, therefore, called for more enlightenment of the people on COVID-19.
When people are well informed, they will start making decisions and the denial would be a thing of the past, he said.