By our reporter| Following concern by Nigerians over the rising cases in the number of fresh coronavirus cases across the country, the federal government on Thursday said it is trying hard to prevent another lockdown.
Nigeria’s minister of health, Osagie Ehanire who made the disclosure while appearing on Channels Television Programme, Politics Today, said the government would only push for a lockdown of the country as the last resort.
“The lockdown is always a last resort. It is not the first step that the government takes. If you hear of the countries which had to do lockdown – the UK and many European countries – it was because they were getting figures that were running virtually amok.”
“So, the consequence of a lockdown on the economy including the social consequences are such that you do not take that (lockdown) as a first step. So, we are trying very hard to see that it does not come to a lockdown.”
According to Ehanire, citizens’ compliance with the guidelines as released by various health agencies, will aid the country’s push to contain the disease first confirmed in Wuhan, China in late 2019.
“The compliance and participation of citizens and adherence to all these rules will go a long way in ensuring that we get what we want without extra pain, he said.
As Nigeria struggles to contain the highly contagious pandemic, adherence to non-pharmaceutical measures have been a knotty issue with many citizens flouting the guidelines.
But on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Coronavirus Health Protection Regulation 2021, a move targeted at strengthening Nigeria’s efforts at combating the disease which has infected more than 100 million people globally.
The Presidential executive order stipulates a prison term of six months for those who flout the coronavirus guidelines.
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