By Babajide Okeowo
If the rising cases of COVID 19 infections that are recorded lately in the country continue, the Federal Government will have no other option but to impose a fresh lockdown on the country.
This was disclosed by the National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, during a briefing in Abuja.
“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” Aliyu said.
Similarly, the PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who spoke earlier expressed worries about the rising figures.
“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” he added.
Recall that the Federal Government had in March 2020 locked down the Federal Capital Territory as well as Lagos and Ogun States for over five weeks as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic. The lockdown had a tremendous effect on economic activities with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry putting the loss at about N3bn in the period under review.
Many jobs were also lost as airlines, hotels, banks, amongst others cut their workforce due to the crushing effect of the lockdown.
