Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R.

COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in

Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

RESEARCH ARTICLES

COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in Nigeria and the Need for Effective

Engagement of Community Health Workers for Epidemic Response
Whenayon S. Ajisegiri1, 2, Olumuyiwa O. Odusanya3 & Rohina Joshi1,4,5,
1
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
2
Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Abuja, Nigeria
3
Department of Community Health & Primary Health Care, Lagos State University College of Medicine, Lagos Nigeria
4
The George Institute for Global Health, India
5
Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Australia

Abstract
The current Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak has affected over 200 countries including Nigeria. It is one of
the largest respiratory disease outbreaks affecting several countries simultaneously and a novel strain of Coronavirus
(SARS-CoV 2) has been identified as the causative agent. Sequel to the advice of the International Health Regulation
Emergency Committee, the Director-General of WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency
of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and characterized it as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The
aim of the study was to describe the current situation of the outbreak in Nigeria and argued the need for effective
engagement of community health workers for an appropriate response to COVID-19. We reviewed published articles
on COVID-19 and daily epidemiological reports from the website of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
from 27 February 2020 till 3 May 2020 (Epidemiology week 7 – 17) to describe the outbreak. We also reviewed
ongoing responses by the government and other relevant agencies. Our findings revealed possible evidence of
ongoing and increasing community transmission of COVID-19 infections, inadequate testing capacity and
overwhelming of health resources. Our review also revealed infection of several health workers in the face of existing
critical skilled health workforce shortage. With surging of new COVID-19 cases and a huge number of contacts to be
traced, we recommended that the government needs to promptly bring community health workers on board, deploy
rapid epidemic intelligence and scale up the use of mobile Apps for contact tracing. This will result in an effective and
coordinated response to the ongoing outbreak, sustain routine health services especially at the community level,
reduce morbidity and mortality, and preserve health indices gains already made in the health system.

Key words: COVID-19, disease outbreak, epidemic response, community health workers, primary health care

Background February 2020 [5]. Following the confirmation of the

The World Health Organization (WHO), in December index case, 216 people were identified as contacts to be
2019, received reports on clusters of pneumonia cases of followed up. Of these, 45 travelled out of Nigeria and one
unknown causes in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of of the remaining 176 contacts was confirmed to be
China. The Chinese authorities subsequently identified a positive for COVID-19 on 9 March 2020 [6].
novel strain of Coronavirus (SARS-COV 2) as the The country has continued to experience an increase
causative agent [1]. Sequel to the advice of the in the number of cases, which has spread across several
International Health Regulation Emergency Committee, states. While majority of the initial cases were imported,
the Director-General of the WHO declared the COVID- most of the new cases have no travel history or contact
19 outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of with such people. This is highly suggestive of ongoing
International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and community transmission. Under the current
characterized it as a pandemic on 11 March 2020 [2]. The circumstances, the Primary Health Care (PHC) Centres
outbreak has been reported in all continents, with first remain the most likely port of call for community
case in Africa reported in Egypt in February 2020 [3]. members who develop symptoms that could be
Globally, over 2.6 million confirmed cases and over suggestive of COVID-19.
186,000 deaths have been recorded [4]. The Primary Health Care system is the bedrock of the
Nigeria is one of the 210 countries affected globally. country’s health system [7] and the Community Health
The first case was confirmed in Lagos State on 27 Workers (CHWs) are considered to be its backbone for
February 2020. This index case was a 44-year old man, several reasons [8]. In addition to contributing to several
an Italian citizen who returned from Milan, Italy, on 24 successful immunization, maternal, newborn, child
February and presented at a health facility on 26 health and reproductive health services, CHWs also
 Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R. COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in
Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

played a critical role in the epidemic response to the 2014 Current situation and response to COVID-19
Ebola Viral Disease Outbreak (EVD) across several West outbreak in Nigeria
African countries, including Nigeria [9]. In the face of As of 3 May 2020, 2,558 cases have been reported in
continued COVID-19 community transmission, the the country across 35 states and the Federal Capital
health system may likely become overwhelmed with Territory (FCT) (Table 1). Of these numbers, 1,767 (69 %)
increased risk of health workers’ infection. Considering are male, the age-group 21 – 30 years were the most
the fact that most people use the PHC centres, especially affected (23%), 210 (8%) had international travel
those in the rural and hard-to-reach areas, it is important history; 400 (15.6%) cases have been discharged, and 87
that the staff should be adequately informed and deaths were recorded, bringing the case fatality rate
resourced to provide first level care such as screening (CFR) of confirmed cases to 3.4%, with a range from 0-
and referral of patients. On this ground, we described the 15.2% by region [14]. Prior to report of the COVID-19
current situation of the outbreak and argued the need for outbreak in Africa, the WHO identified a strong link
effective engagement of community health workers for between the continent and China and has sent out
appropriate responses to COVID-19. guidelines on preparedness for the outbreak. Nigeria is
one of the thirteen top countries identified as high risk
COVID-19 outbreak preparedness in Nigeria for COVID-19 importation based on either direct link or
Prior to the importation of COVID-19 into Nigeria, the high travel volume to and from China [2]. The WHO also
government established a “Coronavirus preparedness advised that countries develop capacity to promptly
group” through its nation’s leading public health agency, detect cases that will enable them to contain the outbreak
the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which early so that the health system is not overwhelmed [2].
commenced point of entry screening for travelers. Based Within 48 hours of isolating the index case, the
on lessons learnt from the EVD outbreak, the NCDC country was able to make a laboratory diagnostic test for
strengthened the National Reference Laboratory with SARS-CoV-2 [5]. Similar capacity for early diagnosis,
diagnostic capacity for epidemic-prone pathogens. swift quarantine of cases and prompt contact tracing lead
Through this process, the NCDC supported 22 of the 32 by the NCDC were strong points of the country’s ability
states to establish emergency operation centres (EOC), to promptly control the 2014 Ebola Viral Disease (EVD)
and trained rapid response teams in all the 36 states [10]. outbreak as well as prepare the country for the COVID-
Furthermore, the agency provided relevant public health 19 response [15]. However, more is required to respond
advisory to the Nigerians; shared the case-definition and to the current COVID-19 pandemic, considering its mode
preventive information with networks of national and of transmission and the possibility of asymptomatic and
subnational public health workers; built capacity for pre-symptomatic individuals transmitting the infection
contact tracing and case management; and strengthened [16]. While COVID-19 is primarily transmitted through
five laboratories for diagnostic capacities [11]. respiratory droplets and contact routes, there is a
Also vital to the COVID-19 outbreak preparedness is potential of airborne transmission [17], [18].
the country’s Polio infrastructure - a programme Following the detection of the index case, a multi-
originally aimed at the eradication of poliomyelitis. The sectoral NCDC-led national emergency operation centre
structure brings on board its technical expertise, at Level 3, the country’s highest level of public health
logistical capacity, human resources, community emergency, was activated. This was followed by
network and disease surveillance experience. The EOCs deployment of Rapid Response Teams with states
coordinating the outbreak response in each state are leading contact tracing and other response activities. The
modelled after the Polio EOC operating under six confirmed case was also evacuated to a health facility
functional units, namely: point of entry, epidemiology designated for the treatment of COVID-19 [5].
and surveillance, risk communication, management and While it was commendable that there was in-country
communication, case management, and laboratory diagnostic capacity for SARS-CoV-2, the testing capacity,
services [12]. The Polio infrastructure was vital to the however, was very low and is still limited to symptomatic
success of the 2014 EVD outbreak response. Currently, it cases. With the change in testing strategy, increases in
provides technical support to government agencies number of laboratories from five to thirteen nationally
including NCDC [13] and has an on-ground network of across the six geopolitical zones [6], decentralized testing
human resources including traditional and religious and active case search in states like Lagos and the
leaders, community mobilizers and health workers to Federal Capital Territory, the number of cases have
support the COVID-19 response. In addition, the Polio surged in the last few days (Figure 1). However, the
infrastructure had SMS-based application, auto-visual overall testing capacity is still low and estimated to be at
AFP detection and reporting (AVADAR), that support 103 per 1 million of the population (18, 536 samples have
disease surveillance through networks of community been tested so far for a population of 205 million) [4].
volunteers and healthcare workers. This app has been Nigeria’s testing capacity was also supported with a
useful for the current pandemic as COVID-19 donation of 20,000 test kits by a private individual [20],
surveillance questions have been added to this app [12]. and a private Biotech company, 54Gene, donated a
COVID-19 mobile laboratory [21].
 Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R. COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in
Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

Table 1. Summary of COVID-19 Cases across different states in Nigeria as of 3 May 2020 [19]

S/N States No. of Lab No. of Active No. No. of CFR

Affected Confirmed Cases Discharged Deaths (%)
Cases (on admission)
1 Lagos 1,107 830 247 30 2.7
2 Kano 342 329 7 6 1.8
3 FCT 278 235 40 3 1.1
4 Gombe 96 96 0 0 0.0
5 Borno 82 70 0 12 14.6
6 Kaduna 81 72 8 1 1.2
7 Ogun 80 68 10 2 2.5
8 Bauchi 71 65 6 0 0.0
9 Sokoto 66 57 1 8 12.1
10 Edo 52 39 10 3 5.8
11 Katsina 46 33 6 7 15.2
12 Osun 36 11 22 3 8.3
13 Oyo 34 23 9 2 5.9
14 Delta 17 11 4 2 11.8
15 Akwa Ibom 16 4 10 2 12.5
16 Kwara 16 8 8 0 0.0
17 Rivers 14 10 2 2 14.3
18 Yobe 13 12 0 1 7.7
19 Ondo 13 10 3 0 0.0
20 Kebbi 12 12 0 0 0.0
21 Nasarawa 12 12 0 0 0.0
22 Zamfara 12 11 0 1 8.3
23 Ekiti 11 8 2 1 9.1
24 Enugu 8 6 2 0 0.0
25 Taraba 8 8 0 0 0.0
26 Jigawa 7 6 0 1 14.3
27 Adamawa 6 6 0 0 0.0
28 Bayelsa 5 5 0 0 0.0
29 Ebonyi 5 5 0 0 0.0
30 Plateau 3 3 0 0 0.0
31 Niger 3 2 1 0 0.0
32 Imo 2 2 0 0 0.0
33 Abia 2 1 1 0 0.0
34 Anambra 1 0 1 0 0.0
35 Benue 1 1 0 0 0.0
Total 2,558 2,071 400 87 3.4
 Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R. COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in
Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

Figure 1. Epidemic curve of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria as of 3 May 2020

300 Active case search 3000

and decentalized
testing in Lagos
250 2500
Lab increased to
13 + New Testing
200 Strategy 2000
No. of new cases

Cumulative
Testing capacity
150 increased from 500 1500

cases
to 1500 per day
Index
case Lockdown
100 1000
commenced

50 500

0 0
21-Feb
23-Feb
25-Feb
27-Feb
29-Feb
2-Mar
4-Mar
6-Mar
8-Mar

1-Apr
3-Apr
5-Apr
7-Apr
9-Apr
11-Apr
13-Apr
15-Apr
17-Apr
19-Apr
21-Apr
23-Apr
25-Apr
27-Apr
29-Apr
1-May
3-May
10-Mar
12-Mar
14-Mar
16-Mar
18-Mar
20-Mar
22-Mar
24-Mar
26-Mar
28-Mar
30-Mar

Date of notification

Death confirmed cases Cummulative

A Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 was also questionable [28]. As of 10 April 2020, over 9,000
established to respond to the outbreak through a multi- contacts have been traced [29], which is an average of 3.5
sectoral and inter-governmental approach [22]. In contacts per confirmed case. About 118,000 house-holds
addition to initial flight bans for 13 COVID-19 affected were visited for active case searches within 2 days in
countries and subsequent suspension of international Lagos, among which 119 confirmed cases were identified
flight [23], three states within the country that were early [30]. The continued increase in the number of cases has
centres of the outbreak are currently under lockdown by overwhelmed the human resources for health involved in
presidential directives and several state governors have the various aspects of response activities, particularly
also implemented similar measures to curb the spread contact tracing.
[24]. This includes bans on social and religious Many clinical activities have been reduced or halted in
gatherings and restrictions of intra- and inter-state order to control COVID-19 transmission [31]. More so,
movements in order to limit disease spread. In addition there have been numerous complaints about the
to all of these, contact tracing and other public health shortages of personal protective equipment and
measures have continued to be strengthened. NCDC has ventilators needed to combat COVID-19 [24]. This is
also deployed Surveillance Outbreak Response further compounded with reported COVID-19 infection
Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) to support among healthcare workers as a result of occupational
contact tracing. It is an open source mobile and web exposures, a figure estimated as 113 (about 6% of
application for disease outbreak detection, notification, confirmed COVID-19 cases) as of 1 May 2020 [32].
management and response which was deployed during The COVID-19 outbreak is also coming at a time when
the 2014 EVD outbreak but has now been upgraded to the country is currently battling with Lassa fever
include a COVID-19 module [25]. outbreak and preparing for certification exercise to be
declared polio-free [11]. As of the Epidemiological week
Challenges and impact of the current COVID-19 16 of the year 2020, the country has recorded 979
Outbreak on the Health Care System confirmed cases and 188 deaths (CFR 19.2%), against
With an Epidemic Preparedness Index of 38.9% [26], 546 confirmed cases and 123 deaths (CFR 22.5%) in the
Nigeria has been rated better than many African corresponding epidemiological week of 2019 [33].
countries to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak [27]. Having being free of wild polio virus cases for a period of
However, its capacity to adequately respond in the face three years, the Independent Africa regional
of local and community transmission has been said to be Certification is expected to make a decision in July 2020
 Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R. COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in
Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

to certify Nigeria polio-free [12]. Response activities to strategy for the COVID-19 response within the region
this outbreak have a tendency to divert the limited should involve CHWs, especially as flattening of the
resources away from current health issues and gains epidemic curve is hinged on preventive measures. It is
previously made on other health indices. The fear of important that this should be done at the early stage
being infected by COVID-19 at health facilities and the because late engagement of CHWs in the 2014 – 2016
current lockdown order is also likely to limit access to EVD outbreak was associated with disruption of PHC
health services routinely provided by CHWs. These services and hampered outbreak response [40]. Many
include routine immunization, ante-natal services, countries have already commenced this step. For
maternal, neonatal and child health services, family instance, Republic of Rwanda has directed suspicious
planning, HIV/TB, management of minor ailments, cases of COVID-19 to consult with CHWs [41], Kenya has
disease surveillance and health management sensitized 85% of its CHWs at 4th week into the outbreak
information system. Disruption of these health services [42], and Liberia is leveraging its CHW programme for
could lead to reduction in immunization coverage, and COVID-19 infection prevention, case detection and
increases in morbidity and mortality of infectious response [43]. As of 8 April 2020, 2.5 million households
diseases as well as maternal, neonatal and childhood across 27 countries have been reached by CHWs as part
health issues. of countries’ national strategies [42].
As of 1 May 2020, there are estimated 12,000 contacts
The need to engage Community Health Workers to be traced and followed up [44]. This value is likely to
in the fight against COVID-19 be an underestimation of the total number of 2,174
Infectious disease outbreaks of large magnitude, such confirmed COVID-19 cases as the average number of
as COVID-19, need special attention beyond the routine contacts is projected to be about 10 times the number of
in terms of resources and procedures, as they have cases [45]. The significant human, logistic and financial
tendency to significantly impact the nation’s economy resources needed, coupled with the rapid nature of
and health system [34]. These impacts are usually more COVID-19 spread, makes manual contact tracing non-
felt at the community level where the existing health feasible [46]. Taking all these into consideration, the
resources are usually limited. CHWs are able to fill in government need to consider the use of digital
these gaps in the health system by extending health technologies and mobiles applications such as AVADAR
services to these vulnerable populations [34]. to overcome these challenges of critical shortages of
Successful responses to previous outbreaks of large human resources. It is said that the pandemic could be
magnitudes have demonstrated significant contributions significantly reduced if 60% of the population uses such
by the community health workers. During the 2014 – digital contact tracing applications [46]. This should be
2015 EVD outbreak, CHWs participated in various possible as the mobile phone usage rate in Nigeria is
response activities. About a thousand CHWs in Liberia estimated to be about 88% [47].
and several others across Sierra Leone and Guinea In light of the aforementioned, it will be a good
provided services to sustain the health system in the face strategy for Nigeria to promptly and effectively bring the
of public health crises. These include community-bases CHWs on board in the epidemic response against
maternal, neonatal and child-health services, COVID-19 with two broad aims. The first is in the direct
community sensitization and case management of minor involvement in the various aspects of COVID-19
ailment. With more training, their roles were further prevention and response activities, a contribution of
expanded after adequate training to serve as contact adaptive resilience to the health system [34]. The second
tracers and active case finders. They isolated suspected aim is to prevent a decline in health indices and sustain
cases and acted as the referral link between the essential services, a contribution of inherent resilience to
community and the treatment centres. These were the health system [34].
especially useful in the face of the high level of fear and With regard to involvement in COVID-19 prevention
lack of trust in the health system during the outbreak activities, CHWs are trained to provide health education
[35]. to the population. They will be useful in providing health
In Cote D’Ivoire, over 1,500 CHWs successfully education to the community on the clinical features,
conducted a community-led precautionary outbreak route of transmission and access to care. Being
response to EVD in neighbouring countries of Guinea healthcare workers who live and work within the
and Liberia [36]. During the 2015 Zika outbreak in community, they are often well trusted by the people.
Brazil, about 370 CHWs were trained and participated in They are therefore better positioned to explain and help
response activities to reduce infection transmission implement and monitor preventive measures such as
among at-risk communities [37]. In Nigeria, some CHWs social distancing, hand hygiene and cough etiquette
are also trained to participate in the Acute Flaccid compliance. Rapid outbreak containment has been
Paralysis (AFP) surveillance which is a very vital associated with mobilization activities that generated
component of the poliomyelitis programme structure trust between health workers and members of the
deployed for the country’s successful response for the community where they work [48]. It is therefore
2014 EVD outbreak [38]. important that there should be rapid scale up of more
There is a critical shortage of skilled health workforce CHWs to address current and future public health crises.
shortage in sub-Saharan Africa [39] and an effective
 Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R. COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in
Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

Community Health Workers can also be involved in Surveillance also needs to be strengthened, based on the
COVID-19 case identification. While testing is not Integrated Disease and Surveillance Response (IDSR)
available at the Primary Health Care level, CHWs can be guidelines, with heightened index of suspicion for
trained to identify signs and symptoms among COVID-19 cases. Drugs and consumables supply chains
community members. This is particularly applicable in need be maintained, so that clients visiting the health
hard-to-reach areas and the nomadic communities. centres for non-COVID-19 cases can be adequately
Identification of such cases can flag and interrupt attended. This increases trust in the system and reduces
community transmission very early and minimize the the tendency of community members to self-medicate or
magnitude of the outbreak [9]. Rapid epidemic avoid reporting illness.
intelligence should be deployed at all levels to collect and In order to achieve all these, there is need for the
collate information on COVID-19 outbreak. With high national and sub-national levels of government and
mobile phone penetration and android usage, outbreak development partners, to rapidly support the CHWs and
alerts can be obtained via WhatsApp and other social the PHC system now more than ever. While it is
media sources. This has proven to be useful in previous commendable that the government, through the
outbreaks such as the 2014 EVD where it detected alerts National Primary Health Care Development Agency has
three months prior to formal announcements [49]. developed a comprehensive guideline on preparedness
CHWs can also be trained to support various aspects and response plan for COVID-19 at PHC and community
of management of patients that have died from COVID- level [53], there is urgent need to ensure its prompt
19, such as dead body preparation. The national implementation and operationalization. As part of the
guideline encourages safe and dignified burial for people support, there is a need for initial and continuous
who died from COVID-19 [50] but family members are capacity building of the CHWs and other staff as PHC
not permitted to perform final burial rites such as level. This will ensure that they are adequately equipped
bathing, touching or kissing the dead goodbye. This is for the task ahead.
more painful if the person died at a treatment centre The government is recruiting from the pool of qualified
where no one was permitted to visit them during but unemployed CHWs and has reengaged some CHWs
admission. The resultant disruption of traditional burial who have retired. There is need for donor agencies to
and mourning rites, otherwise seen as sign of last respect support the efforts of the government as well.
for the dead and are usually held in high esteem across Proportionate distribution should also be considered.
various religions and ethnic groups [51], can lead to This is because many PHCs are currently short-staffed
psychological effects, reduced support resources and and the high possibility of overwhelmed human
diminished coping ability [52]. CHWs can also be helpful resources at PHC level may lead to the collapse of the
in providing bereavement support for the family. health system especially after the lockdown order is
As part of response strategy, CHWs can also lifted.
participate in contact tracing activities especially as Government at the national and sub-national level also
human resources will become increasingly overwhelmed need to quickly and adequately train the current and
by the rising number of cases and community newly engaged CHWs in case identification and
transmission. They could also serve as referral link screening, contact tracing, follow up of isolated
between symptomatic community members and the individuals and referral of cases that need medical
formal health system. The NCDC should continue to attention. This will support the pool of graduates and
work with all relevant agencies to ensure the integration residents of the Nigeria Field Epidemiologist Training
of the outputs from CHWs’ response, data generated Program. They should also be provided with enabling
from mobile Apps’ contact tracing and rapid epidemic environment within the workplace to reduce the chances
intelligence data. This will ensure a coordinated and of occupational exposure. This includes provision of care
effective outbreak response. Beyond the current public and infection prevention protocols or guidelines,
health crisis, this integration should be institutionalized personal protective equipment, conducive environment
as part of epidemic preparedness and response. to ensure physical distancing during encounter with
The second aim of effectively engaging CHWs during patients, hand hygiene facilities (availability of running
this outbreak is to ensure sustenance of primary health water and soap), and disinfection facilities. With
care services. This is because, as community level consideration of task-sharing and task-shifting, they
transmission increases, routine health services would could also be trained on collection and transportation of
consequently be interrupted as the focus of health sample if possible. It is also important that they are
facilities shift to the COVID-19 outbreak [43]. The supported mentally and physically, and with adequate
resultant effect will be increased morbidity and mortality remuneration, considering the fact that these tasks are
due to non-COVID-19 causes. The PHCs need to stressful with the likelihood of being infected. Job
restructure and strategize, such that CHWs continue to security beyond the engagement for the current
deliver services such as routine immunization, maternal pandemic should also be strongly considered.
and child care services and community management of In conclusion, while implementing this response
infectious diseases especially for children. These will strategy for the pandemic COVID-19 outbreak, the
reduce morbidity and mortality, improve populations’ government should aim at engaging CHWs in building a
health and reduce their susceptibility to infection [34]. resilient health system. This is achievable through a
 Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya OO & Joshi R. COVID-19 Outbreak Situation in
Nigeria and the Need for Effective Engagement of Community Health
Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

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Engagement of Community Health Workers for Epidemic Response, 2020; 1(4).

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