‘Return to total lockdown likely’ | See top five updates on COVID-19 in Nigeria
Owing to the infinite number of information being released at every minute around the novel coronavirus in Nigeria, it is important to not only filter the information we consume so as not to be overwhelmed but to have a reliable space to begin to find the information we need.
Nigeria relaxes lockdown, records highest daily tally
The same day Nigeria relaxed the four week lockdown is the same day the country recorded its highest COVID-19 tally, with the figure for Monday at 245.
The announcement was made by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday night. The figure brings the total tally for the country to 2,802, the agency said.
“On the 4th of May, 245 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria,” it said.
Nigerians put pressure on Reps as they set to pass infectious diseases bill
Concerned Nigerians yesterday intensified pressure on the House of Representatives even as it appeared poised to pass the controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 today.
They raised posers as to why the proposed legislation is coming as Nigeria battles the coronavirus pandemic. They wondered why the country is exploring the prospect of forcing parents to vaccinate their children at birth when western nations and China where the disease originated from have not done so. There were also insinuations that the sponsors of the bill might be aiming to satisfy foreign interests to the detriment of Nigerians.
Facemask defaulters will be arrested – LASG
The Lagos Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has warned that the command would begin clampdown on persons found on the streets without facemasks. Odumosu, who addressed newsmen after a prolonged meeting with Area Commanders and principal officers of the command at the headquarters hinted that the curfew would be enforced everywhere in Lagos to the latter.
According to him, “this time, police will not arrest you for vehicle particulars, but for refusing to put on a facemask and not keeping social distancing. Okada activities have also been suspended. Since we started the lockdown, we have not had any case of police brutality in Lagos, because we are using persuasive enforcement, and we will continue with that.”
Return to total lockdown likely
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 is not pleased that there was a breach of social distancing with overcrowding in public places, interstate movement and shunning of face masks.
“Today, we might forgive a little bit because it was the first day. However, we will have infections because of what happened today (yesterday), no doubt about that. But what is more important is how we can learn from the mistakes of today (yesterday) into tomorrow and into next tomorrow, so that by Friday, hopefully they will have normalised some of these things.
“The challenge for us as a society is how we now organise ourselves to mitigate this risk to limit transmission from each other. We don’t want an explosion of new infections. But if we do have that explosion, there will be almost no choice left for the leadership of the country than to ask all of us to go back into our homes.”
GJF says COVID-19 has exposed failure of governance
The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) says the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the long history of failure of governance in Africa.
The foundation said this during the first edition of its programme, “Policy Dialogue Series”, which held during the weekend. The theme of the dialogue was “COVID-19, Peace and Security in Africa: Impact, Risk and Mitigation”.
The dialogue attracted participants from many nations, including Kenya, Gabon, Uganda, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Nigeria.
