The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed on Thursday reiterated that COVID-19 is real.
He said Nigerians who kept denying the existence of the virus should pray not to get infected with the dreaded disease.
He stated this during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 in Abuja.
According to the minister, the only way one would not be infected remained by listening and observing the government’s guidelines for the control and prevention of the disease.
Lamenting the number of Nigerians still living in denial of the virus, Mohammed warned that it was necessary people obey the protocols put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the PTF if they must escape the virus.
Further noting that the only time the update of cases by the NCDC makes an impact on some Nigerians was when COVID-19 affects someone they know, the minister warned:
“Pray not to get to the hospital. Pray not to get infected. And the only way you will not get infected is by listening to what the NCDC is saying; to what the PTF is saying.”
On the cure for the virus, he said, “We have repeated several times here: there is no known vaccine for COVID-19; no known medicine for COVID-19; don’t believe what anybody is telling you.”
He added, “The only known vaccine for COVID-19 is following the guidelines rolled out by the NCDC and the PTF such as the use of sanitizers, social distancing, washing of hands and avoiding mass gatherings among others. There is no other medicine than this.
“If you know the experiences of those who have gone through this; who are going through this, you would pray never to be infected with COVID-19.”