Anthony Iwuoma
Following crowded gatherings on the first day the lockdown was eased, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Monday warned on the likelihood of another lockdown.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, expressed his displeasure during the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19.
He said: “Initial reports are not too pleasing across the country.
“Yes, we might have a few extra transmission today and tomorrow, but what we don’t want is an explosion of new infections.
“If we do have that new explosion, there would be almost no choice for the leadership of the country than to ask everybody to go back into our homes.”
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Though Ihekweazu stated that he was not really surprised by people flouting the guidelines, he insisted that compliance was unavoidable.
“Yes, we knew today would be a problem. Everybody here knew today would be a problem because for the first time people were let out of their homes.
“But now that we have seen the sunlight again, the challenge for us as a society is how do we now organise ourselves to mitigate this risk, to limit transmission.”
The NCDC on Monday confirmed a whopping 245 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single day record in Nigeria, out of which Lagos, the epicentre of the infection, accounted for 73 cases.