COVID-19 Africa Watch speaks to Professor Iyeopu Minakiri Siminialayi, Provost, College of Health Sciences & Chairman, University of Port Harcourt COVID-19 Task Force, about mitigation strategies at the local level.

Key Takeaways

The following are a few of the main takeaways from COVID-19 Africa Watch’s conversation with Professor Iyeopu Minakiri Siminialayi, Provost, College of Health Sciences & Chairman, University of Port Harcourt COVID-19 Task Force:

• The University of Port Harcourt is implementing temperature checks and mask requirements, while also encouraging faculty to work from home.
• Isolation and treatment facilities quickly became strained and reached capacity.
• The three major challenges have been 1) ignorance; 2) funding and resources; and 3) speed of implementation once mitigation procedures were agreed.
• Lockdowns have proven less effective than hoped due to the large number of citizens who need daily income to survive. Mandatory mask wearing and extensive testing and contact tracing are recommended.
• The most important lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic so far has been to prepare very early for the worst.

The interview was conducted by Kenneth Ohaeri, an IFC-Milken Institute Capital Market Scholar from The Nigerian Stock Exchange.