COVID-19: FG raises alarm over rising cases

The Federal Government on Thursday raised the alarm over the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, raised the alarm at the 42nd joint national briefing of the taskforce.

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“Nigeria witnessed a spike in number of confirmed cases when the number of recorded cases jumped to 663 on Tuesday, 9th June, 2020. This number gives us cause for concern as a Task Force and as a nation,” Mustapha said.

According to him, at the PTF briefing last Monday, he had emphasized that a great majority of Nigerians are still susceptible to COVID-19 and cautioned that it may be more deadly if the citizens allow it to transmit easily among the people.

“That admonition remains very valid and we still underscore vigilance and self-preservation,” he added.

Mustapha said that the PTF continues to monitor the level of activities and compliance with the guidelines nationwide and that consultations will continue and that Thursday night, he will be holding another round of video conference with the team of governors appointed by the National Economic Council (NEC) to interface with the PTF.

“The PTF will re-emphasize its appeal to governments at the sub-national level as well as our security agencies to enforce the guidelines and protocols firmly.

“The PTF would also be meeting with the heads of these agencies to further fine-tune strategies to ensure compliance,” he said.

He said the PTF met with the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, stressing that the interaction was robust, as the taskforce received assurances that the legislative support required would be given to help overcome the pandemic.

He also said that President Muhammadu Buhari held a video conference meeting with the President of the ECOWAS in his capacity as the ECOWAS Champion for the control of COVID-19, matters pertaining to the regional response to the pandemic were discussed.

“Specifically, such matters include our common risks as a sub region, the need for our collaboration in response, our inter-dependence and Nigeria’s role given our large population and the position of Mr. President as the ECOWAS Champion,” Mustapha said.