Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu: Why we don’t wear nose mask

The Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has explained why he does not wear face mask during the joint briefings of the Presidential Taskforce Force (PTF) on COVID-19 like other members of the committee.

Answering questions during the briefing, on Friday, Ihekweazu said the nation was yet to develop a policy on face mask wearing and also that the face mask should be for those infected or the medical frontline medical personnel attending the suspected cases or treating COVID-19 patients.

“This is a strategy we need to think about before we implement it. Before we implement a national strategy around mask wearing, we have to be sure we can provide it or at least enable access to it. We will allow for the risk assessment and as the evidence comes together, we will make a decision based on the evidence and ability to provide every Nigerian with access to mask,” he said. He however said on Monday that the agency will roll out a policy on face masks this week.

According to Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, the NCDC is almost done with the face mask policy but the draft is still being looked at by the agency.

He said, “Last week, I did say we would release a policy on face masks. That policy has almost been completed. In fact, the draft is now being looked at by various colleagues to make sure that we are all alive. By tomorrow or next, we would be releasing that policy for all of us to align with.”