Prevention, detection critical toNYSCcamps reopening –NCDC
By Uji
Abdullshi Iliyasu
Abuja
Director-General
of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said
that prevention, detection and prompt response are pre-requisites to safe
reopening of the 37 NYSC orientation camps across Nigeria as the scheme
sets to reopen orientation camps on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.
The NCDC
boss stated this during a webinar held for the 2020 Batch “B”
prospective corps members getting ready for orientation course.
Ihekweazu
revealed the centre’s preparedness to collaborate with the NYSC in order
to ensure that corps members’ lives are not jeopardised when camping resumes.
He said all the prospective corps members and
camp officials would undergo COVID-19 test in order to ascertain their health
status, advising that in the event of a prospective corps member testing
positive, there shouldn’t be panic as adequate measures have been put in place
in all the NYSC camps to manage such case. He stressed that no camp would be shut down as a
result of one testing positive to COVID-19, rather, care and support would be
given to the affected without any form of stigmatisation.
Ihekweazu
was full of praises for the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Shuaibu
Ibrahim, for “his passion for youths, exemplified by his tenacity of purpose
which facilitated the approval for the scheme to resume normal
operations.”
He also
advised corps members to observe COVID-19 protocols while in camp as the virus
is still around.
Dr.
Ihekweazu said it has been a trying time for the country, but expressed
happiness that “the challenge has brought the NYSC and NCDC together to
work in partnership for the common good of the country.”
In his
remarks, the NYSC Director-General, praised the NCDC DG and his team for
“working tirelessly to safeguard the health of the nation”, stating
that “there will be zero tolerance for risky behaviours that will
compromise the health of the camps.”
General
Ibrahim thanked the NCDC chief over the donation of Personal Protective Equipment
( PPE) to the NYSC, pledging to put them to good use, and appealed to the
webinar participants to eschew fake news, but to always seek clarification from
the camp management whenever the need arises.