COVID-19: Buhari meets Task Force over nationwide lockdown

As the two-weeks lockdown draws to an end, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 are set to meet today, Friday, to review the lockdown order.

This is coming after the NCDC has recorded at least 288 cases of the deadly virus with 7 deaths and 51 recoveries.

The lockdown which was initiated by the FG on Match 29 started 11 pm, March 30 in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun to ensure the curb of the virus in the affected states and preventing the spread to there states.

According to reports, the Task Force is set to propose an extension the two-weeks lockdown in the FCT, Ogun and Lagos states as well as including other parts of the country.

At a meeting with the National Assembly leaders on Thursday, the task force said it had gathered data to enforce “lockdown of parts or all of the states” in the country.

One of the officials, who confirmed the President’s meeting with the task force, told The Punch that reports and recommendations were still being awaited from some state governors as of Thursday evening.

He said, “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.”

When asked if the President would extend the lockdown, the source said, “During the announcement some 10 days ago, the President made it clear that the lockdown would be for an initial period of 14 days.

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

However, a senior official of an isolation centre in Abuja revealed that a recommendation had been made for an extension.

The source said the move had become necessary because of a suspected community spread.

The doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, said some persons, who tested positive for coronavirus, had not travelled before.

He said, “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.”

It was also gathered that the lockdown might be extended to all parts of the country to enable health workers to conduct more tests and locate people who had contracted the virus.

“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,” another official said.

With the lockdown set to be over on Tuesday, the virus has now spread from the initial three states to about 16 more including the FCT, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Kaduna, Enugu, Edo, Delta, Bauchi, Ekiti, Rivers, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Kwara, and Katsina.