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Be prepared, extension is very likely.!
The President, Muhammadu Buhari will today (Friday) meet with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 over the lockdown imposed on the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states.
The task force would brief the President on the war against COVID-19 and the possibility of extending the two-week lockdown in the FCT, Ogun and Lagos states as well as including other parts of the country.
Reports and recommendations from state governors would also be considered at the meeting.
During the announcement some 10 days ago, the President made it clear that the lockdown would be for an initial period of 14 days.:
What this means is that there is a likelihood of extension, but it will be done only after due consultation with the states.
However, a senior official of an isolation centre in Abuja revealed that a recommendation had been made for an extension.
The source said the move had become necessary because of a suspected community spread.
The doctor, who wished to remain anonymous, said some persons, who tested positive for coronavirus, had not travelled before.
He said, “We in the FCT have recommended an extension of the lockdown because we believe we are now facing a community spread. For instance, one of the people who tested positive is a cook that has never travelled before.
“The cook’s boss recently returned from outside the country, but the boss tested negative. So, where did the cook get it from? We are also working on a report by the World Health Organisation that COVID-19 can be spread through currency.
“We have submitted our report to the case management team, which will in turn submit a report to the emergency operational committee for final submission to the presidential task force. However, we did not state in the report how many days should be added to the lockdown. We don’t know if our recommendation will be accepted.”
It was also gathered that the lockdown might be extended to all parts of the country to enable health workers conduct more tests and fish out people who had contracted the virus.
