COVID-19: FG Gives Update On When Fresh Lockdown To Begins

The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, has disclosed the easiest way the country could head into a fresh lockdown.

The PTF committee said the level of compliance by Nigerians will determine whether a fresh lockdown will be imposed, amid the second wave of the pandemic.

Brandnewsday reports that the PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, made this known while speaking on TVC, Tuesday.

Aliyu revealed that no decision has been made on a fresh lockdown.

He said: “The behaviour of the public when it comes to these rules matters. We have countries abroad that have strict non-pharmaceutical intervention measures, and everybody follows it.

COVID-19: FG Gives Update On When Fresh Lockdown To Begins

“The flights are coming in, schools are open, churches are open, and they don’t have COVID-19 problems because everybody observes the rules.”

According to him, “We definitely don’t want a lockdown and because we don’t want to lock down, we need to make sure we do everything we can to prevent ourselves from reaching that state where the government will have to take action”.

Recall that in a bit to aver the continuous spread of COVID-19. the Nigerian Government ordered a lockdown in March 2020 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States respectively, for over five weeks during the first wave of the pandemic.

The lockdown ushered many doors closed — many job losses as airlines, hotels, banks, among others cut their workforce due to the crushing economic effect of the lockdown.

Meanwhile, in the first week of 2021, the federal government admitted it would have no choice than to impose a fresh lockdown in the country if the number of COVID-19 infections continues to increase.