The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) discouraged Nigerians from travelling home for the 2021 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations next week due to the Delta variant of the novel Coronavirus recently discovered in the country.
NCDC, Head of Risk Communications Division, Dr Yahya Disu, issued the warning while speaking on Channels TV on Wednesday, July 14.
Disu disclosed that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic started in Nigeria because people traveled for Christmas last December. He, therefore, urged Nigerians to avoid unnecessary trips as Sallah celebrations hold next week.
“Third-wave is about having an increase in the number of cases. We have had an 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 said
Disu urged religious leaders to sensitize their followers on the need to strictly observe COVID-19 protocols in order to prevent rise in recorded infections.
“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,” he said.
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