COVID-19: Another lockdown imminent, says FG

The National Coordinator Presidential Task Force on the COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, says another lockdown is likely to be enforced during an imminent second wave of the Coronavirus.

Aliyu warned that allowing the second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria could destroy the country’s economy and lead to more deaths.

Speaking during the daily media briefing of COVID-19 in Abuja, Aliyu urged businesses to adhere strictly to the guideline of COVID-19.

According to Aliyu: “We eventually have to reopen, but we can only do so if we reopen safely. It is quite clear, as we can see from the other parts of the world, that certain countries are now going back into lockdown because of the pandemic coming back, otherwise called recrudescence or what we call a second wave.

“We really cannot afford to have this happening in this country. It will destroy our economy and it will lead to a lot of deaths. Therefore, we have to reopen safely. We cannot risk another shutdown nor can we risk more lives being lost.”

Nigeria currently has 44,433 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

This followed the confirmation of 304 new COVID-19 cases by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, as of Tuesday night.

NCDC has also disclosed that about 910 deaths have been recorded in Nigeria.