The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, has urged political leaders in the country, to refrain from announcing COVID-19 cases in their states.
Ihekweazu, speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, explained that they do it “not understanding the ethics and norms of the medical practice and public health”.
He urged them to leave the disclosure to the experts.
“We’re really appealing to our leaders across the country. Please, let the experts do the reporting. Nobody should reveal the identity of a patient, even if it’s the first patient in your state. Please, do not reveal the identity of a patient; the circumstances whether he’s a doctor not.
“We don’t need all of that. This is a virus. They haven’t committed an offence; they haven’t done anything wrong. We have to show empathy towards all our patients; that’s what we signed up to as healthcare workers,” he said.
As of Wednesday night, there were 276 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Nigeria.
