NCDC denies blaming any age group for spread of COVID-19

The Director-General of the Nigerian Center for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said that the agency is not blaming any age group for the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

During Thursday's press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja, Ihekweazu was quoted to have said that people between the age group of 20 and 40 are responsible for spreading COVID-19.

He said, “As more people are infected across the world, you would have seen the numbers; it is increasingly obvious that transmission among younger people really, not children, but people aged between 20 and 40 as far as we know, are really driving the spread of this virus, but those that are bearing the brunt of it are people age 50 and above.

“Three out of five people who died from COVID-19 are 50 years and above; so we have to work harder, all of us collectively, to protect our elderly. We are on the verge of opening our airports, we have relaxed intercity travel.”

Clearing the air, the NCDC DG tweeted that the agency does not blame any age group for the spread of the virus.

"In my comments, I emphasised a fact from our data- most cases are in people aged 20-40, while most deaths are in those >50. We do not blame any age-group as #COVID19 affects our lives in different ways. We must work together to protect each other, especially our elderly & vulnerable", he tweeted.