Coronavirus: REPS urge ban on open worship

Barely two hours after the Federal Government imposed a travel ban on 13 high-risk coronavirus infested countries, the House of Representatives has also mandated it to ban open worship and other public gatherings until further notice. The House also directed the airport authorities across the country to put in place mechanisms to discourage crowd gatherings. It also took a decision mandating compulsory laboratory tests on all staff and members of the national assembly to ascertain their status.

It also banned visitors from accessing the national assembly complex while urging the government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with the Singaporean government to produce testing kits for Nigeria. It also added that all public institutions in Nigeria should be equipped with temperature gauge. It also called for one-day national prayers and mandated the Minister of Health to brief the House leadership on the situation on a weekly basis. It will be recalled that the ravaging coronavirus had been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, WHO, leaving most advanced countries of the world to scamper for solutions to contain the virus.
Buhari’s campaign director tells FG Nigeria as at today had recorded 8 cases but with no death. The House reached the resolutions on the heels of a motion debated for over an hour under “Matters of Urgent Public Importance” on Wednesday plenary.