Devcoms unveils twitter conversation, '#5daysforCOVID19'

Success Damian:

To address the present turmoil of COVID-19 in Nigeria, Development Communications (DevComs) Network with support from over 150 volunteers, Social Media & Health Influencers all over Nigeria has launched a campaign titled '#5daysforCOVID19'.

The twitter conversation ran for five days as Nigeria joins the world to tackle the COVID-19 virus.  

In a press release, the twitter campaign reached over 7.5 million people with credible information on Corona Virus in 5 days. 

The topic discussed covered how to prevent contacting Corona Virus, how and who should self-isolate, the concept of social distancing and public and private roles to help flatten the curve of COVID-19. 

Important tips were shared by Dr. Chinonso Egemba @Aproko_doctor, Dr. John Afam @DrJohnAfam, Dr. Marietta Imadojiemu @etta_md, Nelson Echibuogu @Sports_doctor2, and message moderated by Fausiat Balogun (Public Health Specialist) @Healthcommng for Development Communication (Devcoms)Network.

According the discussants, the Virus is spread by respiratory droplets, and agreed that there has to be contact with an infected person before the virus could spread. They added that by effectively practicing social distancing, it could indeed reduce contact and the likelihood of spread. “What you do affects all of us,” they maintained.

In the release, the group said “Social Distancing simply means reducing the amount of contact we have with people while carrying out our daily activities. This would help to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as infection rates would drop. 

“Self-isolation simply means either staying at home or at a place where you won't meet with family or people, in general at serviced apartment or your house with no face to face contact with anyone for a period of 14 days.

They also discussed who should isolate, they maintained that for now there are two major groups, those that come in contact with surfaces like desks, doors, etc. , objects like Telephones, keyboards and therefore, advised that these objects should regularly be cleaned with disinfectant.

They advised the public to ensure easy access to soap and water for hand-washing.

“Place hand sanitizers at strategic locations and fill them regularly, it's best if these are self-dispensing to prevent multiple hands touching them.  Provide tissue, and or face masks in case people develop cough around you,” the release read.

Akin Jimoh, the Program Director at Development Communications Network stated “Our lives depend on the practices of our neighbors, so we all have to form a unit to educate, inform and call attention to practices that could help decrease the spread of COVID-19”.  He also enjoined people “not to share random information on the internet except source is verified by credible bodies such as the World Health Organization, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and State and Federal Ministries of Health.

“Aggressive education and health promotion can help flatten the curve of COVID19 ,” Jimoh said