Buhari Signs 2021 COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations, 2021.

Naija News reports that President Buhari signed the regulations on Wednesday afternoon.

The provision contains guidelines designed to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.

The regulation signed by President Buhari makes the use of face masks in public places compulsory.

The President signed the document in the exercise of the powers conferred by Section 4 of the Quarantine Act, Cap. Q2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2010.

Part 2 of the regulation stipulates that no one will be allowed within the premises of a market, mall, supermarket, shop, gardens, leisure parks, recreation centres, restaurants, hotels, event centres, motor parks, fitness centre, etc “except he is wearing a face mask that covers the nose and mouth, he washes his hands or cleaned the hands using hand sanitiser approved by NAFDAC and his body temperature has been checked.

Anyone whose body temperature is above 38 degrees Celsius will be denied entry and advised to seek immediate medical attention.

Part 1 deals with restrictions on gatherings. It stipulates that at all gatherings, a two-metre physical distance shall be maintained at all times between persons.

It added, “No gathering of more than 50 persons shall be held in an enclosed space, except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50 per cent capacity of the space.”

Recall that the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday evening, 26th January 2021, confirmed 1,303 new cases of Coronavirus disease infection in Nigeria.

The new cases of COVID-19 infection were confirmed via a statement on the official Twitter handle of the health agency.

This brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to 124,299 which includes 99,276 discharged cases and 1,522 deaths.

Below is the breakdown of the latest cases according to states with Lagos State having the highest number of cases followed by Abuja, the federal capital territory.

Lagos-478
FCT-211
Nasarawa-83
Rivers-72
Kwara-42
Edo-36
Ondo-34
Benue-32
Kaduna-32
Katsina-26
Plateau-26
Kano-25
Taraba-25
Osun-22
Delta-21
Oyo-21
Niger-19
Sokoto-18
Ebonyi-17
Ekiti-14
Gombe-13
Ogun-12
Bauchi-11
Zamfara-8
Borno-4
Jigawa-1