Get ready for brutal January, NCDC tells ‘disobedient’ Nigerians

There will be a deadly spike in coronavirus infections in January, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) warns.

The NCDC said the spike will be the result of repeated and widespread violations of COVID-19 protocol across the country.

The country is already struggling to cope with rising cases, NCDC director-general Dr Chikwe Iheakwazu said on Tuesday.

“We just faced the worst week since we started responding to this outbreak,” he said.

“We had more cases in Nigeria last week than in any other previous week since the beginning of the outbreak.

“Pictures and videos from across the country paint a very disheartening situation because it appears that our messages, our appeals to Nigerians over the last few months have not been heeded and we have gone ahead with business as usual.

“Events centres are full, social activities are full and so it is no surprises that cases are rising.

“January will be a tough month, no doubt about it. So, we have to brace ourselves for the consequences of the activities that we have decided to carry out in December.”