With the growing trend in the spread of COVID-19, NECOR hosted yet another online meeting to assess the level of participation of youth in curtailing the spread of the disease. During the session, participants echoed that children and youth may not get severely ill or die of the virus as the old, should they be infected. However, they have important role to play in curtailing the spread of the pandemic and keeping those that are vulnerable from getting further infected.
This assertion is based on the outcome of the recent study in USA on COVID -19 cases published in the Morbidity and Mortality weekly report.
The study revealed that older people recorded highest rate of hospitalization and death compared to those in the age range of 0-19 and 20-44 years.
In the light of this premise, there were suggestions on areas that youth can play immeasurable role in curtailing (if not ending) the spread of the pandemic. In list:
1. Youth should engage in aggressive campaign and awareness on COVID-19 pandemic on social media since a good number of them have access to internet or participate in various social media platforms.
Due to the lockdown and restriction order in some countries, youth are advised to engage in community and door to door neighborhood sensitization on the pandemic
2. They should work as volunteer in the distribution of palliative, relieve materials and fumigation exercise.
They should distance themselves from activities that can foster social gathering like playing of football, party and hangouts.
3. They should leverage on the lockdown to develop their digital and online skills on working from home to create jobs.
To end with, a Professor of fish nutrition who joined at the inception of the meeting, opined that youth, especially in the rural areas, should advance the knowledge on ethnobotany as preventive and precautionary measures, since vaccine for the cure of COVID-19 is yet to be discovered. One of the participants buttress this assertion making refrence to success recorded in this area in some African countries like Madagascar. The meeting ended in unison with the hope of reconvening to discuss on other pertinent issues apropos on COVID-19 pandemic.
Thank you. Green regards. .