States May Decide on Reopening of Schools, Businesses, Says PTF
•OPS anxious as Buhari gets report, makes fresh pronouncements today•307 new cases move tally to 10,162 with 3,007 discharged, 287 deadThe Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow states to decide on the reopening of schools, businesses and worship centres shut since March as part of the efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The 307 new cases were reported from 15 states, including Lagos 188, FCT 44, Ogun 19, Kaduna 14, Oyo 12, Bayelsa nine, Gombe five, and Kano, three.The meeting of the PTF with the president was a sequel to the expiration of the extension of the easing of the lockdown, which commenced on May 18, by the federal government.
With the two-week extension which expire today, a fresh pronouncement by the president on the way forward must be made today. He said: “The communities are in the states. So, the ownership of the next stage will be the responsibility of the states, the local government, the traditional institutions, the religious leaders at the different levels of our communities because that is where the problem is.
He also said the task force briefed the president on the challenges confronting the group, adding that Buhari assured members that the country was behind them. Asked if Nigeria was winning the war against the virus, Mustapha answered in the affirmative, saying with only three per cent fatality rate while most countries grapple with over 10 per cent fatality rate, Nigeria is winning the fight.
According to him, one of the PTF’s challenges presented to the president is the failures of some governors to cooperate with the task force. The Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association , Dr. Timothy Olawale, told THISDAY that the effect of the initial lockdown was devastating on businesses while recovery after the partial lifting of the lockdown has been slow and uninspiring.
“COVID-19, as we have seen and judging from opinions of scientists, is not in a hurry to go. Therefore, we have to work out how to live with it through an informed and detailed protocol to protect ourselves.” “We must be thinking of things that will help the country to achieve the objectives the government has in mind like social distance, use of mask and not the ban on interstate travel and curfew that have been poorly implemented.”
“We have so far had a six-week lockdown. What has the implementation and compliance been? Have people started using face masks? Are Nigerians following social and physical distancing protocols? Did the implementation of the interstate lockdown work? We know social distancing is the most difficult protocol for Nigerians to comply with. In homes with ‘face-me-I-face-you’, are these protocols followed? These are the information we should know before a new order is made.
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