COVID-19: I will not totally lock down Ebonyi – Gov. Umahi insists 

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has said he would not entirely lock down the state even as cases of the Coronavirus disease continues to increase across Nigeria.

Umahi said this in a statement by Mr. Uchenna Orji, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, on Sunday in Abakaliki, NAN reports.

According to Umahi, the economic peculiarities of the state must be considered before reaching such a decision.

“I considered the state’s poverty index as those agitating that I close all markets have to re-evaluate their suggestions.

“We have not recorded any index case of COVID-19, and therefore, there is no need to shut our economic activities entirely,” he said.

Umahi also thanked the residents of the state for their patience over the dusk to dawn curfew, noting that their compliance was ‘encouraging.’

“The level of compliance attests to the great work of our Local Government Area Chairmen, Coordinators of development centers, security agencies, among other stakeholders in the battle against this virus.

“I believe that by May 1, 2020, and if there is no record of the disease in Ebonyi, we shall lift the 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. curfew but maintain total closure of the boundaries within a distance of 300 meters radius.”

While states battle to contain COVID-19, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed another 87 cases of the disease in the last 24 hours, bringing to 1,182 the total number of infected persons in the country.