Boss Mustapha

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has extended the gradual easing of the lockdown by two weeks.

The PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, announced this on Monday during the briefing of the members of the task force in Abuja.

He said, “The reality is that in spite of the modest progress made, Nigeria is not yet ready for full opening of the economy and tough decisions have to be taken for the good of the greater majority.

“Any relaxation will only portend grave danger for our populace. Advisedly, the current phase of eased restriction will be maintained for another two weeks during which stricter enforcement and persuasion measures will be pursued.”

The SGF added that “Mr President has approved the following: (i) ​The measures, exemptions, advisories, and scope of entities allowed to reopen under phase one of the eased locked down, shall be maintained across the federation for another two weeks effective from 12 00 midnight today (18th May, 2020 to 1st June, 2020);

“(ii) ​intensifying efforts to ‘tell (communicate), trace (identify) and treat (manage)’ cases;

“(iii) ​elevating the level of community ownership of non-pharmaceutical interventions;

“(iv)​ Maintain the existing lockdown order in Kano for an additional two weeks;

(v) ​Imposition of precision lockdown in states, or in metropolitan/high-burden LGAs, that are reporting a rapidly increasing number of cases, when the need arises. This would be complemented with the provision of palliatives and continued re-evaluation of the impact of the interventions; and

“(vi)​ Aggressive scale-up of efforts to ensure that communities are informed, engaged and participating in the response with enhanced public awareness in high-risk states.”