Covid-19: Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy recommends dance, play, exercises

The impact of the ravaging Covid – 19 pandemic to the world within a short time is damaging and almost beyond imaginations.
The effects are hydra headed and very overwhelming on nations and human populations.
Economy, health, social and individual lives of people have been seriously affected in such a way that the estimation effects is huge and endless. Obviously, the world may never be able to totally recover from the effects for many years to come.
The Covid – 19 infected people have no choice of their own than to be isolated or quarantined for treatment and monitoring while the general public are made to follow government guidelines for the pandemic.
These guidelines include: observation of social distance policy, hand washing with soap and water, use of facemasks in the public, lockdown observation, ban on large gathering of people and crowds, as some of the measures for covid – 19 containment.
Many of the infected who are asymptomatic do not experience serious complications of the disease while in isolation. Others with underlying health challenges may suffer varying degrees of complications, ranging from cardiorespiratory issues to psychological trauma and many health problems. The health conditions can drop from mild to being fatal within a short period without warning despite good healthcare management.
The social distancing policy means that there are reduced opportunities for physical activities such as walking, cycling, jogging, gym activities and leisure due to movement restrictions. Sedentary living and physical inactivity for weeks and months are now becoming the order of the day everywhere including health institutions and holding facilities for isolation and treatment of covid – 19 patients.
The Director General, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, in a recent live interview on Channels television programme, Daily Sunrise, also published in Punch newspaper on the 21st of May, 2020, on “Why Covid – 19 patients play and dance in isolation centres”, described Covid -19 as an infectious disease which may not necessarily weaken infected persons the way other diseases do.
He explained further that people are put in isolation centres not just because they are ill but in order to stop them from transmitting this virus to others and he also cited his experience when he travelled to China in late February/ early March where a lot were put in place for patients and people on quarantine to exercise and dance.
He reiterated further that it is not easy to be somewhere in isolation for three to four weeks when you are not physically ill.
The Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP), the umbrella body of all practising physiotherapists in Nigeria since 1959, recently through her president, Dr Ahmad Yusuf Rufai, and in different fora and press releases, made it clear to the public and Nigerian government the untoward effects of inactivity and sedentary lifestyles in lockdown, at quarantine/ isolation centres and in the communities and homes where people observe social distancing. Physiotherapy has been proven to be of immense benefits to patients on admission and more to healthy individuals in the communities and their homes.
The current situation around the world has put a lot of limits and restrictions to both the patients and healthy populations and could be detrimental if care is not taken.
Physiotherapists are experts in exercise testing and prescription in health and otherwise and our services are available to promote health, aid healing and recovery and also for restoration and rehabilitation.
NSP, as a health professional association that is mindful about the well being of the good people of Nigeria, recommends prescribed physical activity by physiotherapists to individual patients and healthy people taking into consideration individual health challenges and baseline fitness levels.
It is worthy of note that the dosage of exercise plays a vital role in the response elicited by the body immune system. Too much or too little of it can have detrimental effects.
It is, therefore, imperative that exercise is prescribed in an individualised form to people and especially to those whose immunity are already compromised as a result of the covid -19 infection at the various isolation centres. The physiotherapists being the exercise experts are best suited as well as prepared to handle this.
NSP, in a bid to complement federal government’s efforts against Covid – 19 has also set up a national and States taskforce committees whose functions are directed at keeping Nigerians healthy, informed and to provide evidence based physiotherapy interventions at the isolation centres for both symptomatic and asymptomatic covid -19 patients. Quality information on prescribed activities and exercises are currently being generated and released from NSP covid – 19 taskforce for public consumption in support of the federal government’s efforts as a way of contributing our own quota to reduce to the barest minimum the disease morbidity and mortality and also to ensure good recovery for the infected as the whole world look forward to the future for the discovery of a potent vaccine against covid – 19 and its extermination globally.
For more information, contact: Oluyinka Afolabi PT, Fellow of the National Physiotherapy Postgraduate College (Community Physiotherapy), Nigeria and the National Secretary of NSP Covid – 19 Taskforce Mobile: 2348034071507 E-mail: [email protected]