FG may impose total lockdown and ban inter-state travel again Over COVID-19 surge.
NewsOne Nigeria reports that Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, has hinted on the possibility of the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, banning inter-state travel to curb the new wave of COVID-19 being experienced in the country.
The minister the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 would be meeting on Monday, and may recommended inter-state travel as part of measures to control the spread of the virus.
Mohammed revealed this while speaking at an event organized by the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja.
NewsOne Nigeria recalls that the statement of the minister is coming after former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had earlier called on the federal government to ban all flights coming or going to the British capital of London to avoid the importation of a new and stubborn strain of the virus into the country.
The minister, however, noted at the event that the Federal Government was worried about the possibility of the mutated strain of COVID-19 being imported into the country from London, but may not immediately resort to international travel ban due to its negative impact on the country’s economy.
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Mohammed noted, however, that if that was the only option left for the federal government to protect the country from the new COVID-19 strain, it may follow the suit of many European countries that have banned flights to and from the UK.
“We are more concerned about the new strain of COVID-19 which is manifesting itself in the UK; that is the mutated strain,” said Mohammed.
The minister continued: “It is difficult to detect; it spreads faster and people have been known to die of it within a very short period of its detection.
“This is a major concern to us as a country. While I do not want to pre-empt the PTF because we are meeting this afternoon, it is going to be top on the agenda of our discussions.
“I will not be surprised if that will be the recommendation of the committee which is meeting later today.
“This season, many students are coming from the UK in particular, to come and join their families in Nigeria.
“Besides, many of our people, because of the traditional link we have with UK, may want to go there for business or family re-union.
“It is a very testy time and it might be another dangerous period to transmit this new variant of COVID-19,” he said.
