COVID-19: FG may lock down parts of Lagos, Abuja, Plateau, others

By Samuel Oamen

The Federal Government has hinted it is considering a second lockdown in parts of Lagos, Abuja, Plateau and other high density areas over rising COVID-19 cases.

The Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19 National Incident Manager, Mukhtar Muhammed, disclosed this on Friday when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

Describing the rising cases of COVID-19 infections recorded in three urban areas as alarming, Muhammed identified the states as Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and Plateau States.

He said according to available data, urban local governments in the affected places recorded the highest cases of the virus during the second wave in the country.

On if the hotspot areas will be targeted for lockdown, he said: “That is exactly what we did, we have been analysing the data and we have been looking at the geographical areas that have been most affected and the different age groups.

“Certainly, even if we are going to have a lockdown, it is not going to be a total lockdown. A couple of weeks back, we analysed the data and we identified the hotspot local government areas.

“Mostly, the areas affected are the urban local governments in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau. Even in most other states, it is the urban areas that are involved.

“So, if we are going to have any restriction, it will be in these areas.

“The urban areas are the most affected and that is why we have these super spreaders and that is where we are going to target.

“We have analysed that and we are advising the states based on the data that these are the focused areas where these transmissions are more than the others.”

Source