The government stated this amid the increase in the number of virus infection, as its battled the second wave of the pandemic.

The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, who disclosed this while during his on TVC on Tuesday, noted the taskforce is yet to take a decision on imposing a fresh lockdown in the country.

“The behaviour of the public when it comes to these rules matters. We have countries abroad that have very strict non-pharmaceutical intervention measures and everybody follows it.

“The flights are coming in, schools are open, churches are open, and they don’t have COVID-19 problems because everybody observes the rules.

“We definitely don’t want a lockdown and because we don’t want to lock down, we need to make sure we do everything we can to prevent ourselves from reaching that state where the government will have to take action,” he said.

The Federal Government ordered a lockdown in March 2020 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States for over five weeks during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It led to job losses as airlines, hotels, banks, among others cut their workforce due to the crushing economic effect of the lockdown

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at the taskforce briefing in Abuja on Monday.

According to him, the measures were important to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease as the country battled the second wave of the pandemic which has also affected other parts of the world.

He said, “All government staff on Grade Level 12 and below are to stay at home for the next 5 weeks; Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives are to be held accountable for enforcing NPI rules in their domains with frequent spot checks.

“The PTF on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Education, expects that schools would have vacated from the 18th December 2020 and remain closed till at least the 18th of January, 2021 to enable the measures introduced to take effect.

“All persons above the age of 60yrs and/or with comorbidities are to be encouraged to stay at home and avoid crowds.

“All non-essential travels – both domestic and international during the holiday season are seriously discouraged.”

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, made this known at the briefing of the task force in Abuja, on Monday.

He explained that the directives were advisories issued to state authorities for implementation in the next five weeks.

The new restrictions include the closure of all bars, nightclubs, pubs and event centres, as well as recreational venues in all states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

All restaurants were also directed to close, except those providing services to hotel residents, takeaways, home deliveries, and drive-ins.

Similarly, all informal and formal festivity events, including weddings, conferences, congresses, office parties, concerts, seminars, sporting activities, end of year events, have been restricted to not more than 50 people.

The government also limited all gatherings linked to religious events to less than 50 per cent of the capacity of the facility of use which physical distancing and use of face masks should be strictly enforced.

According to Mr Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), events where more than 50 people are attending should be held outdoors only.

He added that public transportation systems should carry passengers not more than 50 per cent of their capacity, in compliance with social distancing rules.

NCDC Director-General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu revealed this on Monday during a television interview in Abuja.

He mentioned that Lagos, Kano, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Plateau and Borno are the states where positive cases are dropping.

He explained that the reason for the reduction in the positivity rate in those states was the result of consistently testing high numbers of persons.

But, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has urged Nigerians not to rejoice too early, as the fewer positive cases of the past few days does not give an accurate picture of the country’s infection transmission status.

It also disclosed that as sample collection and testing is ramped up in more rural areas and small towns, there is likely going to be an increase in the number of positive cases coming from such areas.

Ihekweazu said: “It is only through testing the numbers of people that may have the infection, that we can actually understand how widespread that infection is.

“The state that gives us the biggest indicator of where we are is the data out of Lagos State. Lagos has consistently made the effort to test as many people as possible. They have been responsible for 50 per cent of the cases initially, which is now down to about 30 per cent in the country.

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha issued this warning at the task force daily media briefing on Monday in Abuja.

He further advised that the daily low test and case confirmation numbers should not be misinterpreted to mean that Nigeria has overcome, stating that Nigeria has yet to reach the peak of the pandemic.

He said the government has over time ramped up testing but there was more to be done to raise the quantum of test per million.

The PTF chairman said an analysis showed that five states still account for 60 per cent of cumulative cases and 689 out of the 774 local government areas (LGAs) have reported at least one case.

Mustapha also decried that 85 LGAs in 20 states remain with no testing done and no case reported while 50 per cent of all the cases were in 20 per cent of the nation’s LGAs.

He, however, noted that the PTF was happy that many survivors were telling their stories and sharing them on social media.

Mustapha believes the stories of those who he said doubted the existence of the virus and became infected and are now expressing appreciation for the timely intervention of the case management team, have provided compelling proof that the virus is real.

He, therefore, called on the people to continue to observe all existing measures towards curbing the further spread of the disease in the country.

This extension is the third for the second phase of lockdown currently observed across the country.

Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19  and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) made this known during the Task Force briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

Update later…

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha stated this in an interview with State House correspondents after he led members of the task force to present its interim report to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

He also identified fatigue on the part of workers as part of the factors responsible for the low figures.

Mustapha also noted that the President was happy with the report presented and that he commended members of the task force for their efforts in creating awareness on the virus.

With the extension, the phase which was initially scheduled to end on July 29, will now end Thursday, August 6.

Briefing newsmen on Wednesday, the SGF said the PTF would release fresh directives tomorrow once the President endorses its recommendations.

“As for the content of the report, it will be premature for me to talk about it because we submitted a report, we have submitted recommendations and so we have to leave for Mr President to take a decision.

“By the time I receive his approvals, non-approvals on the recommendations we have made, we will be able to speak to the Nigerian people tomorrow (Thursday),” he explained.

The SGF added, “If you noticed, as we celebrated those discharges, there has also been a decrease in the testing.

“In the last couple of days, we tested just barely 2,000 across the nation, but we have a testing capacity of much more thousands than 2,000.

“Another reason is that everybody is still in Sallah mood, even the essential workers. Remember when I talked of fatigue, this is part of it.

“But I know that in the next couple of days, the testing will be rampant because people would have come out of the Sallah celebrations and come back to work.

“The sub nationals and local governments will begin to go into the communities to search because this is the point at which you have to go into the local communities and begin to search.

“If you don’t do that, so much is happening as a result of the community transmission that has been cascaded into the local communities that if you wait for it to present itself, it will present itself in a very explosive manner and we can get into a panic mode.

“We don’t want to have that. That is why are encouraging the state governments to go into the local communities to ensure that they search for those infected with this virus, test them, if they are positive, isolate them and provide care for them.”

Minister of State for Education, Prof. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba disclosed this during the daily press briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday.

The Minister further added that NECO and NABTEB exam dates would be announced in the coming months.

InsideOjodu had earlier reported that WAEC debunked examination timetable circulating in Nigeria on social media over the weekend.

But with this recent update, it looks as though the federal government has seen through the plight of students.

Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this during the daily media briefing of the TaskForce in Abuja.

Mustapha said the directive would take effect from July 1.

InsideOjodu recalls that the federal government had since May placed a ban on interstate movement as part of the measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.

He said “Specifically, however, the following measures shall either remain in place or come into effect:

“Maintaining the current phase of the national response, for another four weeks in line with modifications to be expatiated by the National Coordinator;

“Permission of movement across state borders only outside curfew hours with effect from 1st July 2020;

“Enforcement of laws around non-pharmaceutical interventions by States, in particular, the use of face masks in public places.”

PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, made this call during their daily press briefing on Monday in Abuja.

“We also appeal to the security agencies to enforce the ban on interstate travel very strictly,” Mustapha pleaded.

Explaining the need for enforcement on the interstate travels, Mustapha stressed that there has been a daily increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.