COVID-19: FG mulls fresh lockdown as cases continue to rise

The Federal Government of Nigeria on Thursday said it is considering a fresh lockdown on the country as new cases of Covid-19 infections recorded lately continue to rise. The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Sani Aliyu, stated this at a briefing in Abuja.

Recall Vanguard had earlier reported that the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the Federal Government has no plan to impose a fresh lockdown as the country battles the second wave of the pandemic.

However, speaking on Thursday, the PTF Coordinator, Sani Aliyu, said the rising Covid infections recorded of recent in the country were concerning and might require a fresh lockdown. He said, “If these numbers continue to go up and we start having significant deaths, we will have no option. If we do not want to lock down, now is the time to make sure that we follow the non-pharmaceutical interventions.” Similarly, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who spoke earlier, said, “The Presidential Task Force is very concerned about the increasing daily numbers that we are recording. “On the 6th of January 2021, we recorded 1,664 infections. This is yet another all-time high in Nigerian and we must all take full responsibility through compliance and vigilance.”

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