COVID-19: FG cautions against relaxing lockdown by states

The Federal Government has cautioned the states and some local authorities against summary lifting of ban and restriction policies on movement to avoid the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

Daily Trust reports that some state governments relaxed their containment and restriction policies mostly for religious purposes, including for the weekly Jumah (Friday service) and Easter celebration.

The National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, gave the warning on Friday in Abuja at the ninth joint national briefing of the PTF on COVID-19 headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.

According to him, the committee has noted that some states have started lifting their bans or relaxing their containment protocols.

“This is really not the right time to do so because we still have an ongoing pandemic, which is global. It is also not the right time to do so because we could end up having real

recrudescence of infections. At this time, I am appealing to our local communities, religious and traditional leaders, as well as the states, to continue to support and encourage the public to continue to support and maintain those protective measures that are important to getting on top of this infection.

“There is also a very strong need for state governments to work in harmony and align with the federal government in our efforts to deal with this pandemic. This pandemic is not just a Lagos or an Abuja situation, it’s a national issue,” Aliyu said.

Speaking of the Easter celebrations, he said that the public should remember that there are still lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT and that the evidences so far from literatures show that cessation of movement or lockdown is still the safest physical distancing measure, when it comes to controlling the COVID-19 infection.

He said that this is an infection that is invisible, a very social virus, which requires close interaction with each other, maintain the distancing, would help to fight it more effectively.