COVID-19: ‘Let’s Be Careful in Spreading Fake News’, Atiku’s Son Speaks from Hospital Bed
Mohammed Atiku, the son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a trip abroad has shared his experience from his hospital bed.
In a six-minute recorded video at the Abuja University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada posted by the former Vice President on his verified Twitter handle, Mohammed, advised Nigerians to desist from spreading false information about sufferers of COVID-19.
While noting that he was asymptomatic to the virus when he tested positive on March 20, he revealed that he was traumatic in the first instance being the first case in the nation’s capital, but got better on daily basis.
READ: COVID-19 World Update
Speaking from the isolation centre, he said that he has made progress and hope to be discharged soon.
My son, @Mo_Atiku shares his experience with #COVIDー19. Together, we can learn from his experience and work to defeat this pandemic for our common good. pic.twitter.com/h4lJ7xIPsx
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) April 2, 2020
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“On the 20th of March, I tested positive for COVID-19 and later that night I was brought to the isolation centre at the Abuja University Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada.
“I’ve been here for about twelve days and I hope to be out soon. I decided to make this video so I can talk about my experience and I hope it will be of value to people out there, Nigerians in particular.
“In the first few days when I came here, I was asymptomatic but I was nervous. I had a high level of anxiety and a little bit of trauma, it was a fairly difficult few days especially being the index case in Abuja. I think that was the main challenge.
“But day by day, I grew stronger thanks to prayers and support I got from a vast array of Nigerians, many people I don’t even know but of course my family and friends, associate have been supporting.
“But one thing I will like to speak to Nigerians on my experience is about fake news. Fake news is very bad.
“It compounds your problems if you are in a vulnerable situation. Perhaps coming from a politically exposed family, I didn’t really feel that pain as much but for people who are more vulnerable. It could really affect their health and their immune system as well.
“So let me urge people out there to be very circumspect with how they treat information.
“Let them be careful about spreading information that is false. These things aggravate health conditions.
“In my case, even people living within the estate that I live in were purveyors of fake news and it is quite unfortunate.
“I’m not really here to talk about those specifics but I will like to urge all of us to come together and see how we can support one another.
“This is a challenge to our future and the present. The quicker we come together, the sooner we overcome this. The longer it takes to do that, the longer the impact in terms of fatalities and the economic impact.
“Thankfully based on the statistics, a lot of people will be fine from this but we cannot ignore the few that will not be fine so let us come together and support the government, follow safety regulations from WHO, federal and state governments.
“Moving on, I will like to ask that we pray and show support to our medical staff because they are at the front lines. They are risking their lives.
“I’ve seen it first-hand how close they come to patients suffering from the disease. We need to pray that none of them gets infected and nothing befalls them and their families.
“I also like us to show support to the authorities who are also doing their best to make sure that we conquer this disease. Let’s put aside politics and defeat this pandemic.”
