CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) is the latest infectious disease to develop rapidly worldwide (Van Doremalen, 2020), to the extent of a severe global pandemic [McDowel, 2020]. The etiologic agent of COVID-19 is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China [WHO, 2020]. The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and many countries including Nigeria has been affected by this virus.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) are positive-sense, single stranded RNA viruses and its diameters is 60 nm to140 nm with spike like projection on it’s around which giving it a crown like appearance. Their viral is RNA genomic and their ranges from 26 to 32 kilobases in length. COVID-19 belongs to the Nidovirales order which includes Roniviridae, Arteriviridae, and Coronaviridae families. The Coronviridae family is subdivided into Torovirinae and Coronavirinae subfamilies. Coronavirinae is further sub classified into alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Phylogenetic clustering accounts from the classification of these subtypes of viruses. It can be isolated from different animal species. In 1960 first case of coronavirus was notified and Canadian study in 2001 was identified approximately 500 patients as Flu-like system in which 17 to 18 cases were confirmed as infected with Coronavirus by polymerase chain reaction. These include livestock, birds, and mammals such as bats, camels, masked palm civets, dogs, mice, and cats. In 2003, various reports were published the spreading of Coronavirus in many countries such as Hong Kong, United States America, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and their several case of severe acute respiratory syndrome which caused by Coronavirus and their mortally was more than 1000 patient.
A pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries or continents. It affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic which according to the World Health Organization (WHO), declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic when it became clear that the illness was severe and that it was spreading quickly over a wide area.
The outbreak of pandemic Covid-19 all over the world has disturbed the educational, political, social, economic, religious, and financial structures of the whole world. The world’s topmost economies such as the US, China, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and many others are on the verge of collapse. Besides, Stock Markets around the world have been pounded and oil prices have fallen off a cliff. In just a week 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment and a week later another 6.6 million people started searching for jobs. Also, many experts on economic and financial matters have warned about the worsening condition of global economic and financial structure.
The outbreak of this virus in Nigeria brought about several restrictions on all sectors of operations in Nigeria as it was described to be communicable and deadly by world health organization.
In order to curtail and manage the spread of the virus in Nigeria, the federal Government mandated the use of face-mask; social distancing, use of sanitizers in washing hands and cleaning surface, this safety measures are all applicable to all sector and including academic institutions. However, before the resumptions of schools, the Nigeria Governments urged all schools to ensure that there is an adequate compliance to Covid-19 safety measures. Thus, the level at which secondary schools in Asaba Delta State Nigeria comply with those mandated safety measures have been uncertain likewise other parts of Nigeria. Thus, this study emerged as a result of this uncertainty.