The Federal Government, as part of plans to relax air and land travels in the country, is set to put the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria with 60 per cent of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases under total lockdown.
Stating that this is the way to contain the spread of the pandemic, the federal government also linked the low mortality rate of COVID-19 in the country compared to other countries with similar climatic characteristics to the age bracket of most of those infected by the virus.
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, told journalists after he led his team to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the progress of the national response to the pandemic said that the precision lockdown would be implemented by State governments where the 18 LGAs are located.
Mustapha said at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday that Nigeria has not reached its peak of infections, stating that with 39 molecular laboratories, the number of COVID-19 infections will continue to rise.
The federal government scribe, while urging State Governors to drive the process, also asked all local authorities including religious and traditional leaders to ensure compliance to non-pharmaceutical interventions.
He added that the reason for the precision lockdown will be to place specific measures in certain places especially by State governments, to enable aggressive testing for the disease and management.
On the low rate of mortality in the country, Mustapha said that 80 per cent of the infections were in the age bracket of 31 to 40 years, which he described as a very active part of the population.
According him, even when they have the infection, they are able to surmount it because of their level of energy.
Therefore, he said, everything was being done to protect the vulnerable such as the elderly and those with underlying illnesses.
