Covid-19 Attacks Nigerian Parties
Since the alarm went up about the outbreak of Covid-19, otherwise known as Coronavirus, the world has not remained the same. However, Nigeria did not feel the heat until February 28, 2020, when the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Nigeria.
The index case was confirmed on an Italian Man who returned into the country but fell sick about five days after. According to the Lagos State Ministry of Health, the man went to the hospital after feeling unwell. After clinical examinations, he was confirmed as a victim of Covid-19.
Since that day, new cases have been coming up, and the attack by Covid-19 on Nigerian parties was launched.
Nigerians are known as people with diversity, a set of people who love to enjoy life and can celebrate anything. No matter how rich or poor you might be, there is always a part that will be of your colour and size.
This celebration list is endless as it can go as far as celebrating buying a new car, new phone, new cloth to even successful divorce or divorce anniversary.
Attending these celebrations might be so crucial in keeping relationships because missing a party you are invited to by a loved one can cost you more than you can imagine. Attendance is not the only important thing for some people, buying the attire chosen for the party is equally important. For some events, that might be your gate pass and what entitles you for special treatment and getting souvenirs.
Some of these events might be hundreds of miles away, but that might not even be an excuse to miss it. That is how important parties are in Nigeria. Some people sell their cars, houses, plots of land, get loans to fund parties. You might say these sources are not wise, but the question is, who cares?
After the Covid-19 cases in Nigeria grew from one to three and five, the fear of contracting the virus became mutual across the states even when some states have zero cases. Then the campaign started for a change in lifestyle, which launched the attack on Nigerian parties.
Social spacing was one of the campaigns that nailed the Covid-19 attack on Nigerian parties. Health organisations across the world, like the World Health organisation, (WHO), advised that individuals should stay at least one or two meters away from each other to avoid inhaling droplets from suspected victims of Covid-19.
This advice came after it was announced that the virus could be transferred through droplets from victims while coughing or sneezing. Since the whole world can be quarantined, a reasonable distance seems to be the best to work within avoiding further spread.
How then came parties hold without having contacts? What will the sitting arrangements be at a party with one to two meters spacing between individuals? How do we avoid inhaling droplets among crowds while gisting, eating laughing, or spraying money?
Pleasantries like handshaking, hugging, kissing are the trending gesticulations at parties, and all of these are the things advised against at the perilous time. Can Nigerian parties be said not to be under the Covid-19 attack?
Remember that the more persons you have at your event, the more your social perception is highly rated in Nigeria. How then do we organise events in the face of Covid-19? How do you attend to Covid-19 when it attends your party without an invite? How do you separate Covid -19 from the persons on your list of invitees?
If you must host a wedding party, burial party, phone buying party, or your divorce anniversary party, remember to arrange the seats one to two meters away from one another. Provide handwashing spots, and hand sanitizers must be present, while hugging, handshaking, kissing, among other gesticulations, must be banned.
Do not forget that banknotes have been said to be a channel to contact Covid-19, so money spraying should also be banned, but you might accept bank transfers.