Community engagement; the master key to preventing Nigeria’s obvious pandemic fatigue and the next COVID-19 wave

• Published in: Journal of public health research Vol. 11; no. 3
• Main Authors: Ogundijo, Oluwaseun Adeolu, Al-Mustapha, Ahmad Ibrahim, Abubakar, Ahmed Tijani, Imam, Abubakar Musa, Bamidele, Folashade, Elelu, Nusirat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.07.2022
• Subjects: COVID-19; Community engagement; Pandemic fatigue; Nigeria
• ISSN: 2279-9036; 2279-9028; 2279-9036
• DOI: 10.1177/22799036221107061

The index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was in February 2020. The pandemic has resulted in severe social, economic, and public health challenge in Nigeria. Nigeria has experienced pandemic fatigue (PF) characterized by its low testing capacity, poor public adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures, and the urge to return to normal. This viewpoint examines Nigeria’s obvious PF amongst Nigerians and believed that community engagement would be a master key to reducing Nigeria’s PF and preventing another wave of the pandemic in Nigeria. Community engagement (CE) is a viable way for monitoring the spread of the SARS-CoV-2. CE is cost-effective, improves the chances of people voluntarily presenting themselves for COVID-19 testing at the grass-root level, and could halt the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria especially with the detection of the delta and omicron variants in Nigeria.