FG Threatens Another Lockdown As Schools Reopen Across States If…
The federal government has warned that it could issue another lockdown as states announce schools resumption.
The warning was given by the secretary to the government of the federation and chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha on Monday, at the joint national briefing of the taskforce, saying another lockdown might be possible if Nigerians fail to adhere strictly to the preventive measures put in place.
Schools have reopened in Lagos, Kano, Ekiti, Ogun, while many others have fixed dates for resumption.
The federal government noted that if care was not taken, the appreciable progress recorded may be eroded especially in the wake of schools resumption, the opening of the air space for international travels and relaxation of a number of restrictions with a view to improving the economy, News Agency of Nigeria gathers.
Mustapha noted that over the last one week, the scientific community have tried to explain some new manifestation of COVID-19 spread, but lamented that the nation continues to observe a reversal of gains in the battle mostly in countries around Europe.
The secretary said the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also expressed some concerns due to the fact that weekly cases have now exceeded those reported in March 2020 when the pandemic peaked in Europe.
According to him, Israel has re-introduced a three-week lockdown, the United Kingdom is considering another lock-down phase, Spain is enforcing a partial lockdown in Madrid, and France, amidst protests by its citizens apart from other stricter measures they introduced to contain the virus.
He said similar stories are coming from South Korea, Iran and the number of fatalities is approaching 200,000 in the USA.
The SGF warned that the call became more pertinent in view of the noticeably increasing disregard for basic non-pharmaceutical measures that have proven very successful.
He lamented that face masks have now been turned into chin masks, social distancing and gatherings are returning to the pre-COVID era.