The Federal Government has urged Nigerians to prepare ahead of more tough times as the coronavirus continues to rise in the country.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation9, Boss Mustapha, who said this on Thursday, added that Nigeria was not out of the woods yet.
Nigeria has recorded rise in the COVID-19 cases recently which has skyrocketed the number of confirmed cases in the country to more than 17,000.
Mustapha who lamented the lackadaisical attitude of Nigerians towards the preventive measures, said the country may record high fatalities in the next three weeks as a result of the rise in cases.
He said: “It started in China. We had not business having it here but it has gotten here. I think at this point all we need to do is to prepare and make sure that we do everything that will help us as a nation and as a people overcome this deviant virus.
“When we started it was one (case) on the 27 of February. Today, we have a record number of over 17, 000 and it is still counting and the truth of this matter is that the adverse effects of these numbers will not be seen now until three weeks ahead. That is when you will begin to see the projections of the mortality
“Because it takes that length of time to go through the processes of incubation and the adverse effect of it. We have got hard days ahead. We have got tough days ahead. We need everybody to understand that we are not out of the woods yet.
“Sometimes when I am coming to the office in the morning I see people casually put their masks under their chin, that’s when they care to carry it and people go about their businesses as if there is nothing to dread.
“This is the time that we need to build a hedge around each other and support ourselves to make sure that because of coronavirus nobody should suffer any form of stigmatisation. That is my appeal to all of us because there are more difficult days ahead, there are harder times ahead as our figures begin to rise.
“We have not finished with the first wave. We have not even peaked. So don’t talk about the second wave”.