The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has alerted Nigerians of the similarity of the symptoms of malaria and Coronavirus (COVID-19), saying that they should note that both diseases are caused by different organisms but differ in mode of transmission.
The NCDC said via its official Twitter handle that Nigerians must stand against taking COVID-19 and malaria as the same infection.
The health agency identified 12 symptoms that could point to the existence of COVID-19 in the human body.
According to NCDC, the listed symptoms will help Nigerians “take responsibility” by quickly calling the available Hotlines if they experienced a combination of these symptoms.
The NCDC urged Nigerians to alert its officials, “If you have COUGH or FEVER and one of these symptoms:
- Loss of Taste
- Loss of Smell
- Difficulty Breathing
- Diarrhea
- Catarrh
- Fatigue
- Shivering
- Body Pain
- Headache
- Sore Throat.
It also added that difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, and loss of speech or movement” were some of the serious symptoms of COVID-19.
The NCDC urged Nigerians to “seek immediate medical attention if they have serious symptoms.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) advised that people with mild symptoms who were otherwise healthy should manage their symptoms at home.
“On average it takes 5–6 days from when someone is infected with the virus for symptoms to show, however it can take up to 14 days,” it said.
Meanwhile, NCDC has announced 653 new COVID-19 cases in Nigeria as total infections from the virus rise to 36,107.
The NCDC said via its official twitter that on Saturday, six deaths were recorded while 305 recovered patients were discharged from various isolation centres across the country, after undergoing treatment.
The health agency said that the 36,107 confirmed cases were out of the over 200,000 tests conducted across the country. In addition, 14,938 were treated and discharged while the total death toll from COVID-19 stands at 778.
Stating that that the 653 new cases were reported from 27 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the health agency said that Lagos has the highest number of infections with 115 new cases, Kwara (85), Enugu (80), FCT (78), Rivers (36) Ondo (35), Oyo (30), Katsina (28), Kaduna (19), Abia (19), Nasarawa (18), Plateau (17_ and Imo (16).
Four States Ogun, Ebonyi, Benue and Kano reported nine infections each while Delta, Bauchi, and Ekiti had eight, seven, and six new cases respectively.
NCDC also said that Gombe, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and Osun also recorded four cases each while a case was recorded each in Cross River, Yobe, Borno, and Zamfara States.