By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Vincent Okpala, has announced the resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic in the country following the ENDSARS protest.

He urged indigenes of the state and Nigerians, in general to apply caution by protecting themselves and observing the social distancing rule.

According to him, the fear became stronger as more people are now showing signs of the disease, saying that some patients have been found in schools, immediately after the EndSARS protest.

Speaking during an event put together to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of a group, I-Witness Crew; a citizen journalism platform Okeke stressed that the nationwide protest exacerbated the spread of the disease.

The commissioner said: “The coronavirus found a means to spread further, through the just concluded EndSARS protest.

“The EndSARS protest was just a virus propagating and sustaining event. We must be very careful how we live. We must go back to all the COVID-19 protocols of social distancing, wearing of facemasks and washing our hands regularly.

“In US, we thought they were getting their hands on the matter already, when the George Floyd murder happened, triggering the #BlackLivesMatter protest. Now, In Nigeria, we already thought we were getting better when the #EndSARS protest also began.

“The protest was one which has helped the virus to spread further, and states have started recording high number again. We (Anambra) have remained relatively low, but states have already started going high again. This virus seems to have found a way of spreading, above all odds,” Okpala said.

He hailed the convener of I-Witness Crew Chidiebele Obika for using the citizens journalism platform to correct a lot of wrong information being put out in public spaces in the nick of the coronavirus lockdown.

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