The Federal Government has said that it cannot halt existing lockdown structure across the country because doing so portends danger for the populace.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said on Monday that it is the reason the economy cannot be fully opened now.
Many Nigerians, on Monday, expected President Muhammadu Buhari to make another broadcast but the Presidency eventually said that it never scheduled any of such.
But speaking President Muhammadu Bihari’s mind, Mustapha said during the PTF’s briefing in Abuja on Monday:
“Any relaxation will only portend grave danger for our populace.
“Advisedly, the current phase of eased restriction will be maintained for another two weeks during which stricter enforcement and persuasion measures will be pursued.
“The two weeks extension of Phase One of the eased restriction is also to enable other segments of the economy to prepare adequately for compliance with the guidelines, preparatory to reopening in the coming weeks.”
For the avoidance of doubt, the SGF added that “Mr President has approved the following: (i) The measures, exemptions, advisories, and scope of entities allowed to reopen under phase one of the eased locked down, shall be maintained across the federation for another two weeks effective from 12 00 midnight today (18th May, 2020 to 1st June, 2020);
“(ii) intensifying efforts to ‘tell (communicate), trace (identify) and treat (manage)’ cases;
“(iii) elevating the level of community ownership of non-pharmaceutical interventions;
“(iv) Maintain the existing lockdown order in Kano for an additional two weeks;
“(v) Imposition of precision lockdown in states, or in metropolitan/high-burden LGAs, that are reporting a rapidly increasing number of cases, when the need arises. This would be complemented with the provision of palliatives and continued re-evaluation of the impact of the interventions; and
“(vi) Aggressive scale-up of efforts to ensure that communities are informed, engaged and participating in the response with enhanced public awareness in high-risk state.”
