Frontline workers engaged in the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 and the treatment of infected persons in Borno State are having a tough time erasing misconceptions about the virus from the minds of the public in the state.
As of midnight of Wednesday, the state was the fifth worst-hit by the disease in the country, with 235 confirmed cases, according to NCDC figures.
Amidst this situation, a large section of the public believes that it either does not exist or it is a ‘US-made’ virus.
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Some of the leading health workers recounted to Kanem Trust how they have been battling these public misconceptions, persuading the public to adhere strictly to all measures against contracting it.
“There is the wrong conception of this virus,” Dr. Ibrahim Kida, Consultant Physician and Head of Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), complained to Kanem Trust.
“People say a lot of things; they say COVID-19 is not real and that Americans brought it; so many wrong theories are flying around about the disease.
“We have been trying hard to erase this public misconception by explaining to them that it is real.
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“We have been saying that we have tested and confirmed cases and we see no reason to say our tests are false; so they should believe us that COVID-19 is real and that the earlier we come out of our dreams the better for us.
“Some even say it is a weapon from US or West; but we ask them, why is it killing their (US and West) people? All these misconceptions are brought about by misinformation and misinterpretation by some people to deceive others.”
Kida said he has been appealing to the people in the state to believe the virus is real and adhere to the policy by the federal government and experts to avoid contracting and spreading it.
“Now that the lockdown has been suspended, we have been advising people to use their masks because we have the virus with us; the projection is not a good thing to talk about; many people are moving around with this virus. In spite of this, you see most people moving around without the mask,” he said.
Innocent Andrew, the Head of Nursing Services in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, said:
“Actually, we, the government and the media, have done the best in trying to educate the public about this pandemic.
“But, bafflingly, the majority of our communities today still don’t believe that there is a coronavirus.
“It has been very difficult battling the disease because if they don’t believe there is such a disease, it will be difficult to make them follow the guidelines of the NCDC, which is very important.
“I find it frustrating to see people still not believing that it (coronavirus) is real”.
He appealed to community, religious and opinion leaders to help to educate the people to understand that this disease is real.
