COVID-19: Nigerian govt mulls lockdown in Lagos Island, Surulere, Abuja Municipal, 15 other LGAs 

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said on Monday the Federal Government may consider a lockdown of 18 local government areas that account for 60 per cent of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

Mustapha, who gave the hint during a chat with State House correspondents after leading some members of the PTF to submit the team’s report to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said affected state governments would implement what he called “precision lockdown” in the next phase of the exercise.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had earlier in the month listed 20 local government areas with the highest COVID-19 burden in the country.

According to the NCDC, 11 out of the 20 LGAs that account for 60 percent of the cases were in Lagos State.

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The LGAs are Lagos Mainland (Lagos), Abuja Municipal (Abuja), Mushin (Lagos), Eti-Osa (Lagos), Tarauni (Kano), Katsina (Katsina), Alimosho (Lagos), Maiduguri (Borno), Kosofe (Lagos) and Dutse (Jigawa).

Others are – Ikeja (Lagos), Nassarawa (Kano), Oshodi/Isolo (Lagos), Apapa (Lagos), Amuwo Odofin (Lagos), Oredo (Edo), Bauchi (Bauchi), Lagos Island (Lagos), Surulere (Lagos) and Ado Odo/Ota (Ogun).

While noting that the nation has not reached its peak as far as confirmed cases were concerned, the PTF chairman urged all stakeholders to ensure compliance with all non-pharmaceutical interventions.

He also gave an insight into the reason behind the low fatality rate in Nigeria, saying 80 percent of the infections are in the age bracket of 31 to 40 years, which according to him, is a very active part of the population.

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