The Federal Government has said though it is not threatening lockdown due to the rising cases of the second wave of the COVID-19 in the country, it may imposed same if Nigerians continue to flout the guidelines and protocols to flatten the curve.
The National Coordinator, Presidential Task Force PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Sani Aliyu, said this on Monday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the taskforce.
He warned that if the country starts having huge numbers of deaths and health system cannot cope, then the taskforce will be left with no choice but to announce another lockdown.
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He said: “The decisions for lockdowns is in whose hands? It is not in the hands of PTF. It is in the hands of all of us the general public. Because, who wants to have a lockdown? We know the impact it has had on our economy and the country.
“It is very difficult and makes life difficult for everybody. But the reason why we are worried about the numbers is because at some point if the numbers continues to trend in this way, our health system will get overwhelmed and it’s not just about those people that will die from COVID, it is people like you and me that might have underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, malaria and other treatable conditions that may not be able to access health service because it’s been overwhelmed by COVID,” Aliyu said.
He added, “In as much as I have been told that I am threatening a lockdown, I am just saying the fact that we need to comply with these protocols, make sure we use our masks, physical distancing and hand sanitizer.
“There are countries in the world that are currently opened, their airports, businesses are opened but they make sure everybody wears a mask and they have been able to keep their numbers down. And if we do the same we will be okay but if we don’t and we get overwhelmed, and we start having huge numbers of deaths, and health system is not coping, what do you think will happen? I rest my case.”
