The Nigerian Government has disclosed that it is currently contemplating a targeted lockdown in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and other major cities in Nigeria, as the number of COVID-19 cases soars in the West African nation.
The government expressed worries that with more than 127,000 confirmed cases, Nigerians are still not obeying the safety protocols.
The National Incident Manager of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad, who appeared on Channels Television on Friday, said “Certainly, even if we are going to have a lockdown, it is not going to be a total lockdown.
“A couple of weeks back, we analysed the data and we identified the hotspot local government areas.”
“Mostly, the areas affected are the urban local governments in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau.
“The urban areas are the most affected and that is why we have these superspreaders and that is where we are going to target. We have analysed that and we are advising the states based on the data that these are the focused areas where these transmissions are more than the others.”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), reported 864 new coronavirus infections in the country on Friday morning.
The centre also confirmed the nation’s deaths toll to now stand at 1,547, adding that Lagos State recorded zero infection.
NCDC disclosed that FCT recorded the highest toll with 129 cases followed by Anambra’s 87.
NCDC tweeted, ”864 new cases of COVID- 19 in Nigeria.”
