BACTERIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 PROTOCOLS IN VERITAS UNIVERSITY BWARI, FCT, ABUJA, NIGERIA

The novel human coronavirus disease COVID-19 has become the fifth documented pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic. COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, and subsequently spread worldwide. Over the past two decades, the emergence of coronavirus-associated diseases (SARS and MERS) inflicted global challenges to public health systems (de Witt et al,). The emergence of this novel disease has led to the introduction of many procedures, processes, actions and protocols in trying to prevent the disease, control the spread of the disease, and manage the disease. These protocols have shown to be effective against the novel virus and also other contaminants and flora of the skin. For instance, the washing of hands with soap and water, the use of hand sanitizer are Important methods used in curbing the spread of the corona virus and other bacteria including S. aureus, E. coli, Klebsiella specie and other fungal species. In Veritas University Abuja, several COVID-19 safety protocols are been observed in other to prevent Staff, Students and Visitors of the University from contacting the infectious disease. The safety protocols observed in Veritas University include wearing of face masks especially in lecture and exam halls, washing the hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds, hand sanitizing, social distancing among others. The methodology used in this study include identification of bacteria in culture media and the result of this study showed notable effect of hand sanitizing and handwashing on bacteria isolated from the palm.