The United Nations (UN) has warned that if more proactive measures are not taken, rapid spread of coronavirus in Nigeria will create a lot of socio-economic damages to the country.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, who sounded the warning today, April 8, at the launch of Nigeria/UN COVID-19 Basket Fund in Abuja, said: “from preliminary macro and micro social economic analysis, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to place immense pressure on Nigeria’s healthcare system and will result in a serious economic and fiscal pressure with a risk of a negative social impact, if proactive measures are not taken to prevent, prepare, respond and cushion the economic impact of the pandemic.
“The International Monetary Fund has reassessed the global prospect for growth for 2020 and 2021, declaring that we have entered a recession – as bad as or worse than in 2009.”
He expressed concerns about the effect and true magnitude of the spread of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, adding that it s yet unclear.
He acknowledged that this is “a trying moment for all of us as our shared humanity is under threat of COVID-19 pandemic.
‘’Societies around the globe are in turmoil and economies are in a nose-dive. It is still unclear what the true magnitude of the spread and impact of the virus will look like in Nigeria. The available emerging evidence is, however, clear. The only effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic is testing, isolation, and contact-tracing.
