COVID-19: Buhari, Task Force To Meet On Friday Over Nationwide Lockdown

President, Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday (Today) meet with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to discuss the way forward on the Coronavirus outbreak in the country and also have a review of the lockdown imposed on the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states.

Naija News learnt that the agenda of the meeting includes briefing the President on the ongoing battle against Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to consider the possible extension of total lockdown in the FCT, Ogun and Lagos states, including other parts of the country where is been affected with the global pandemic.

According to the report by The PUNCH, two government officials hinted that the task force meeting with President Buhari could have held earlier on Thursday, but that recommendations were still being awaited from some state governors as of Thursday evening.

“The President was supposed to be briefed this evening (Thursday evening), but we had to delay because we are waiting for reports and recommendations from some affected states. All things being equal, the President will be briefed on Friday and will take necessary actions.” said the source.

“What this means is that there is a likelihood of extension, but it will be done only after due consultation with the states.”

Meanwhile, an official with the Isolation centre in Abuja disclosed to newsmen on Thursday that a recommendation had been made for an extension of the lockdown due to recent developments.

He noted that while most cases are returnees from the abroad, some persons who have not travelled out of Nigeria has also been tested positive for coronavirus.

The unnamed source, “We in the FCT have recommended an extension of the lockdown because we believe we are now facing a community spread. For instance, one of the people who tested positive is a cook that has never travelled before.”

“The cook’s boss recently returned from outside the country, but the boss tested negative. So, where did the cook get it from? We are also working on a report by the World Health Organisation that COVID-19 can be spread through currency.

“We have submitted our report to the case management team, which will in turn submit a report to the emergency operational committee for final submission to the presidential task force. However, we did not state in the report how many days should be added to the lockdown. We don’t know if our recommendation will be accepted.”

Revealing further, another anonymous source from top government officials discloses that the lockdown might be extended to all parts of the country due to recent reports and in other to enable health workers to carry out thorough tests to know those who are already a carrier of the virus.

He said: “More states are recording COVID-19 cases. We may also consider the possibility of making the lockdown nationwide, at least for a week. We cannot rule out the fact that there is COVID-19 in states that have not recorded any case,”

Meanwhile, Naija News had reported earlier that the Kwara state government has announced the total lockdown of the state as part of efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, (Coronavirus) in the state.

According to the press statement made available to Naija News by Rafiu Ajakaiye the Cheif Press secretary to the Kwara state government, the curfew starts by 5 am to 6 pm. from 6 pm on Friday till further notice