Steps Adopted In Nigeria To Keep Covid-19 Cases And Fatality Low

Isolation

There have been doubts about covid-19 in Nigeria. The major debate was the identity of those infected. However, as news of it's spread keeps increasing daily, other questions have been raised. Many Nigerians are unsure how the fatality rate in Nigeria is so small compared to other countries. They wonder what is the treatment in Nigeria and if it is different from other countries. This blog post will find an answer to that.
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Covid-19 is a viral infection that can infect the lungs. Not everybody that is infected will develop symptoms. The body has a natural immune system in place to fight off infection. The body develops most of these immune systems from previous infection. Some people have a stronger immune system than others. There are various reasons for that. The major thing is a healthy lifestyle and good health. Those with weak immune systems can boost it with drugs.

When a person is infected with covid-19, the body's immune system starts to fight off the virus. From statistics, an average of 80 percent of those who tested positive for covid-19 have an immune system strong enough to win the fight against the infection. These ones are usually asymptomatic. That is they did not show any symptoms of the infection.

Isolation Method

In foreign countries, people who do not show symptoms self isolate at home. That is not the best practice but there is no hospital bed space. Unfortunately, some of these asymptomatic patients develop symptoms at home. If they are not taken care of on time by medical persons, they may develop complications that can lead to death. In Nigeria, the death rate is low. Most of the deaths recorded so far are those who came late to isolation centers when their situations have gotten worse. The death rate is low here now because every positive person is receiving medical care in the isolation center even when they are asymptomatic. That was how it started in those countries before their health care system was overwhelmed. Medical care includes boosting the immune system using diet and drugs for mild cases and treating symptoms as they occur. Most patients are discharged after about 6 weeks of two consecutive tests done after 24 hours apart show negative.

Contact Tracing Method

As for the rate of infection, many of the positive cases in foreign countries may not know that they are positive. This is because the number of new cases is overwhelming their health care system they can't test for all cases. The people can't know if they have had contact with an infected person. And since many people are asymptomatic, they may be spreading it to their friends and family. The case in Nigeria is different for now. Many of the cases have been tested and their contact trace. Positive patients are isolated. Contacts to confirmed cases have been asked to quarantine for the 14 days so that they will not spread it if they eventually become positive. On the 14th day, they are tested and if positive with or without symptoms go to the isolation center.
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This is the reason Nigeria is currently having many discharge cases with few deaths. But we should expect worse figures if the figures eventually overwhelm our health care facility.

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