Amid rising cases of COVID-19 infections across the country, the Federal Government, yesterday, said it was not considering a fresh lockdown.
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Speaking at the weekly ministerial briefing organised at the State House in Abuja, Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the number of cases were not threatening enough for a lockdown to be considered.
On Wednesday night, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 790 cases of new COVID-19 infections. The figure was the highest in about six months, a sharp increase from the 610 cases it registered a day earlier.
A recent surge in infections has been partly attributed to the Delta variant, which is believed to be more contagious and deadlier.
The NCDC noted that states were struggling to curb the spread of the Delta variant, with the situation becoming alarming, particularly in Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Oyo states
Due to the spread, NCDC observed that Lagos set a new record for COVID-19 on Wednesday with 574 cases, and infections in Rivers State jumped to 83; Ondo, 38; Ogun, 31; Oyo, 23; Delta, 10; FCT, nine; Ekiti, seven; Edo, six; and Osun, four. It also disclosed that the country’s active cases had soared to 11,500.
Citing the effects of lockdowns on the economy, Ehanire said countries have been a bit circumspect in the decision to impose a total lockdown as was seen at the beginning of the outbreak last year.
He added that administrators would rather employ precision lockdowns on specific areas of the country that have come under threat.
“There’s no more generalised lockdown. So many countries do what we call precision lockdown. So that everybody will not be affected and there will not be too much damage to the economy and social life. And we are not at the level yet where we are feeling that threat to do any lockdown. We do not have that on the table right now.”