The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has announced an extension of the phase one of the eased restrictions for another two weeks .
Secretary to the government of the federation ( SGF) , Boss Mustapha announced this yesterday during the daily briefing of the task force in Abuja .
According to him, the reality is that in spite of the modest progress made, Nigeria is not yet ready for full opening of the economyID-
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.
He further explained that the two weeks extension of Phase one of the eased restriction is also to enable other segments of the economy prepare adequately for compliance with the guidelines, preparatory to reopening in the coming weeks.
Based on the recommendations of the PTF, Mustapha said President Buhari has approved the following
“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).
“intensifying efforts to “tell (communicate), trace (identify) and treat (manage)’ cases; elevating the level of community ownership of non-pharmaceutical interventions
“Maintain the existing lockdown order in Kano for an additional two weeks; 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.
“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.
For sustainability of the gains recorded, the SGF said the PTF shall continue to support states by developing guidelines to shape decision-making for future steps in the response and aggressively scale up efforts to ensure effective community information.
