COVID-19: Governors agree on 14 days inter-state lockdown

- Nigerian state governors have agreed to impose an inter-state lockdown for two weeks in order to contain COVID-19 spread

- The state governors reached the agreement during a meeting of the Nigerian Governors Forum on Wednesday

- The state governors also called for the decentralization of the COVID-19 response, saying it is the best chance of curbing community transmission

Governors of the 36 states of the federation on Wednesday, April 22, have “unanimously” agreed to impose an inter-state lockdown in the country over the next two weeks to check the state-to-state spread of COVID-19.

The governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) reached the agreement after receiving a briefing from the governors of Lagos, Bauchi, Oyo and Ogun states who shared their experiences and lessons from the fight against COVID-19.

Daily Trust reports that a communique issued by the NGF chairman and governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, at the end of the virtual meeting said only essential services would be permitted.

The state governors called for the decentralization of the COVID-19 response, saying it is the best chance of nipping the spread of the virus in communities.

They also raised a serious concern over the rising spread of the virus among health workers and resolved to work with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that health workers are “adequately” provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and are “constantly” trained on the use of protective gears.

The NGF chairman also briefed the forum on the situation of the pandemic and coordination efforts with the federal government, multilateral and bilateral partners, and the private sector.

The forum held a minute’s silence in honour of all Nigerians who had lost their lives from coronavirus, especially health workers who were in the front lines of the epidemic.

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Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the director-general of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that President Muhammadu Buhari will make some difficult decisions on COVID-19 containment next week.

Ihekweazu made the statement while on a courtesy call to the Katsina state governor, Rt. Hon. Aminu Masari in his office at Government House Katsina.

His words: ”President Buhari will on Wednesday have a teleconference with the governors and there will be some difficult decisions to be made on how to restart the economy, especially on what to start and what not to start.”

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Source: Legit.ng