The Federal Government has said it is cautious in lifting
restrictions on the gradual reopening of the economy in order to
avoid dragging the nation back to the beginning of the
pandemic.
The government said that although the country moving towards
further relaxation of the lockdown, the government said it was not
convinced that the time has come in terms of the impact of the
pandemic to further relax those restrictions.
National Coordinator of the presidential task force on COVID-19,
Dr. Aliyu Sani disclosed this at the briefing of the task force on
Tuesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari, had during one of his national
broadcast placed restrictions on movements and banned mass
gatherings in order to contain the spread of the virus.
After about five weeks of stay-at home – order placed on
residents of Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital
Territory, the President eased the restriction and ordered a
gradual phasing of the lockdown with new guidelines.
They include the compulsory use of face mask, enforcement of
physical and social distancing, washing of hands with water and
soap as well as the use of hand sanitisers.
Last Sunday marked the end of phase one of the eased lockdown
directed by president Buhari in April.
The PTF, on Monday, announced the extension of the easing of
lockdown to allow a gradual reopening of the economy in six
weeks.
Dr. Sani said: “The PTF certainly appreciates the adverse impact
this is having on people’s livelihood but as I keep on saying, we
are trying to balance saving lives with saving livelihood. We are
in the process of moving towards further relaxation of the lockdown
but as far as the next two weeks are concerned nothing has
changed.
“We have been given approval by Mr. President to extend those
same conditions we had two weeks ago for very good reasons. One,
being that we are not convinced that the time has come in terms of
the impact of the pandemic to further relax those restrictions.
“As we all know, the level of compliance with some of those
guidelines we have provided has been limited at best in some areas
and we have to make sure that whatever we do in terms of taking
actions or decisions we do not drag ourselves back to the beginning
of the pandemic again. We do appreciate this. It is one of the
things we will continue to consider as we monitor the next two
weeks.”
Sani said that the extension was to provide the public with the
window of opportunity to start adjusting and preparing for new life
with COVID-19 infection.
The national coordinator also said that the extended conditions
for the gradual easing was to prepare and make sure that Nigeria
continues to slow down the pandemic so that there is no
rebound.
Dr. Sani noted that all guidelines issue during the first phase
of the eased lockdown remain.
He said: “The purpose of the extension is to provide the public
with the window of opportunity to start adjusting, to start
preparing for the new life with COVID-19 infection. We are in for
the long haul, this pandemic is not going to end in the next few
days or few weeks, it is going to be with us a little longer.
“Therefore, the easier we start putting in place measure to
adjust our lives and behaviour the faster we will be able to get
back to normal. We also extended the conditions for the gradual
easing to prepare and make sure that we continue to slow down the
pandemic so that we do not have a rebound.
“Now is the time to intensify efforts in terms of the safety
advisories we have provided, in particular, wearing mask and
staying at home as much as possible.
“There is no doubt that community transmission is intensifying
and the speed at which we implement the safety advisories that we
have provided will also determine how fast we can come out of this
pandemic.
“In terms of the guidelines on the lockdown, the existing easing
of the lockdown remains largely the same for the two week
extension. In particular, interstate travels except for essential
travels and transport of essential services remain restricted, the
ban on passenger flight will remain in place.
“Religious places, schools, clubs, bars, pubs, sporting and
gaming centres remain closed. We must continue to maintain physical
distance of two meter at all times. Mass gathering of more than 20
people in the work place remain restricted.”
He urged state governments to come up with their own specific
initiatives to fight the pandemic.
Sani said: “We are encouraging states to come up with their own
state specific initiatives. This pandemic is going to be with us
for a little longer. It cannot continue to be driven primarily from
the federal level.
“We have to ensure that state governments start taking
ownership. Our responsibility is to provide guidance to the states
and make sure that those decisions that we have taken at the
federal level are being implemented in one way or the other by the
state governments.
“As we all know, the key responsibility of any government is to
ensure the health and wellbeing of the people and I am use the
state governors are doing the same as well and they are very much
aware of these responsibilities.”
The Federal Government has said it is cautious in lifting
restrictions on the gradual reopening of the economy in order to
avoid dragging the nation back to the beginning of the
pandemic.
The government said that although the country moving towards
further relaxation of the lockdown, the government said it was not
convinced that the time has come in terms of the impact of the
pandemic to further relax those restrictions.
National Coordinator of the presidential task force on COVID-19,
Dr. Aliyu Sani disclosed this at the briefing of the task force on
Tuesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari, had during one of his national
broadcast placed restrictions on movements and banned mass
gatherings in order to contain the spread of the virus.
After about five weeks of stay-at home – order placed on
residents of Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital
Territory, the President eased the restriction and ordered a
gradual phasing of the lockdown with new guidelines.
They include the compulsory use of face mask, enforcement of
physical and social distancing, washing of hands with water and
soap as well as the use of hand sanitisers.
Last Sunday marked the end of phase one of the eased lockdown
directed by president Buhari in April.
The PTF, on Monday, announced the extension of the easing of
lockdown to allow a gradual reopening of the economy in six
weeks.
Dr. Sani said: “The PTF certainly appreciates the adverse impact
this is having on people’s livelihood but as I keep on saying, we
are trying to balance saving lives with saving livelihood. We are
in the process of moving towards further relaxation of the lockdown
but as far as the next two weeks are concerned nothing has
changed.
“We have been given approval by Mr. President to extend those
same conditions we had two weeks ago for very good reasons. One,
being that we are not convinced that the time has come in terms of
the impact of the pandemic to further relax those restrictions.
“As we all know, the level of compliance with some of those
guidelines we have provided has been limited at best in some areas
and we have to make sure that whatever we do in terms of taking
actions or decisions we do not drag ourselves back to the beginning
of the pandemic again. We do appreciate this. It is one of the
things we will continue to consider as we monitor the next two
weeks.”
Sani said that the extension was to provide the public with the
window of opportunity to start adjusting and preparing for new life
with COVID-19 infection.
The national coordinator also said that the extended conditions
for the gradual easing was to prepare and make sure that Nigeria
continues to slow down the pandemic so that there is no
rebound.
Dr. Sani noted that all guidelines issue during the first phase
of the eased lockdown remain.
He said: “The purpose of the extension is to provide the public
with the window of opportunity to start adjusting, to start
preparing for the new life with COVID-19 infection. We are in for
the long haul, this pandemic is not going to end in the next few
days or few weeks, it is going to be with us a little longer.
“Therefore, the easier we start putting in place measure to
adjust our lives and behaviour the faster we will be able to get
back to normal. We also extended the conditions for the gradual
easing to prepare and make sure that we continue to slow down the
pandemic so that we do not have a rebound.
“Now is the time to intensify efforts in terms of the safety
advisories we have provided, in particular, wearing mask and
staying at home as much as possible.
“There is no doubt that community transmission is intensifying
and the speed at which we implement the safety advisories that we
have provided will also determine how fast we can come out of this
pandemic.
“In terms of the guidelines on the lockdown, the existing easing
of the lockdown remains largely the same for the two week
extension. In particular, interstate travels except for essential
travels and transport of essential services remain restricted, the
ban on passenger flight will remain in place.
“Religious places, schools, clubs, bars, pubs, sporting and
gaming centres remain closed. We must continue to maintain physical
distance of two meter at all times. Mass gathering of more than 20
people in the work place remain restricted.”
He urged state governments to come up with their own specific
initiatives to fight the pandemic.
Sani said: “We are encouraging states to come up with their own
state specific initiatives. This pandemic is going to be with us
for a little longer. It cannot continue to be driven primarily from
the federal level.
“We have to ensure that state governments start taking
ownership. Our responsibility is to provide guidance to the states
and make sure that those decisions that we have taken at the
federal level are being implemented in one way or the other by the
state governments.
“As we all know, the key responsibility of any government is to
ensure the health and wellbeing of the people and I am use the
state governors are doing the same as well and they are very much
aware of these responsibilities.”