The Federal Government on Thursday said it was tracing 4,370 persons who had physical contact with people infected with COVID-19.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja. He said:

“We have 4,370 people of interest whom we are tracing. We urge those who have had contact with suspected cases to immediately report to the authorities. We urge Nigerians to support the authorities in this regard. We are on the verge of reaching the level of community spread. We must stop this immediately or we will record exponential cases in the days ahead. There is no better way to say this.

“In view of this, we are considering tougher measures to enforce compliance, stop the exportation of the disease to states that do not have it and minimize spread. Possible measures include: stopping inter-state/inter-town travels, except for essential services, closing all motor parks and inter-state rail stations and using fire-fighting and other adaptable vehicles and personnel to fumigate cities and towns. Already, all train movements have been stopped.

“Let me say, without mincing words, that we are not getting the kind of cooperation that this moment deserves from Nigerians. Many are busy engaging in meaningless criticisms instead of complying with the stipulated directives to keep people safe.

“Our strategy at containing this pandemic is working, but we still have a long way to go. We know our priorities and we know our challenges.”

This comes as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed the number of Coronavirus cases in the country as 65.