COVID-19 not a death sentence —Prof Iwu

A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu said on Wednesday COVID-19 was not a death sentence and urged Nigerians to take precautionary measures issued by public health authorities in the country.

Iwu, who is also the Chairman of Imo State Task Force on COVID-19, stated this when members of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) COVID-19 Team led by one Dr. Victor Dike paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Owerri.

He noted that 90 percent of virus diseases that affected people were not medical but hygiene induced.

He said: “Viral infection is a health condition and not a medical condition and so there is need to separate the two.”

The ex-INEC chief commended the NMA for the solidarity visit, adding that the success recorded so far in the fight against the pandemic was as a result of their input and support.

He noted that the task force had three major approaches to containing the spread of the virus in the state.

These, according to him, include communication, education, and protection.

Iwu added the medical personnel had a duty to educate members of the public on what the virus was all about and how to conduct their lives in order not to contract it.