Nigeria Rules Out Another COVID-19 Lockdown

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria is not considering another COVID-19 lockdown because of the possible effects on the economy, the federal government has assured.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, gave this assurance during a media briefing in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, he confessed that Nigeria has gained a lot from the virus, including increasing the National Reference Laboratory for the testing of COVID-19 from two to over 100, comprising public and private laboratories across all the states.

He said the federal government, through the Sustainable Production Pillar of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, had been encouraging local manufacturing companies to embark on the production of consumables.

The minister said local manufacturing companies were specifically encouraged to embark on the production of face masks, ventilators, hand sanitisers and face shields.

Mr Mohammed noted that as part of plans to mitigate the impact of the virus on Nigerians, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration unveiled the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to support families, small and medium enterprises and the manufacturing sector among others

He said with the resurgence of the pandemic had spurred the extension of the mandate of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 until the end of March, 202 as the country had recorded a surge in the number of cases of infected persons.

He also noted that the country was advancing talks in its bid for vaccines.

The minister, who is also a member of PTF, gave an assurance of the administration’s untiring efforts to tame the pandemic and protect Nigerians.

He assured that the FG had worked hard to fight the novel coronavirus which was imported into the country in February 2020, explaining that the government mobilised all sectors and segments of the country for a sectoral approach to interrupt the transmission of the virus and curtail mortality.

Mr Mohammed said the approach included expanding health infrastructure, building the capacity of health workers and mounting aggressive public sensitisation and community mobilisation against the spread of the virus.

He said the country had so far performed creditably well in the fight against COVID-19 through the deployment of resources, mobilisation and training of manpower and expansion of health infrastructure.

He urged Nigerians to strictly abide by all COVID-19 protocols to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

He said the media briefing, earlier scheduled for December 29, 2020, was shifted in order for him not to breach the COVID-19 protocols

“Many of you may not be aware that I represented Mr President at the inauguration of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on December 28, 2020.

“I returned to Nigeria the same day, but had to observe the mandatory seven-day quarantine which expired yesterday, January 3, 2021,” he said.