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NCDC warns Nigerians to obey COVID-19 directives or face another lockdown
Nigerians have been warned to adhere to guidelines issues by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curtail the spread of COVID-19, or face another lockdown.
NCDC Director-General, Chikwe Ihekeazu gave the warning on Monday, while speaking during the presidential task force briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja.
He was reacting to the situation on Monday, where social distancing and other guidelines were flauted by Nigerians following the lifting of the total lockdown in some parts of the country.
“It is not the guidelines per se, it is the thinking behind it. How do we want to manage the risk of explosion and transmission? Today, we might forgive a little bit because it is the first day.
“We will have infection because of what happened today, no doubt about that. But how can we learn from the mistakes of today into tomorrow, next tomorrow so by Friday hopefully we have normalised some of these things.
“Yes, we knew today would be a problem because for the first time, people were let out of their homes but now they are out and we have seen the sunlight again, the challenge for us as a society is how do we now organise ourselves to mitigate these risks and limit transmission?
READ ALSO: PTF urges banks, NURTW to comply strictly with guidelines on COVID-19 lockdown relaxation
“We might have a few extra infection today and tomorrow but what we don’t want is an explosion of new infections. If we do have that infection, there will be almost no choice left for the leadership of the country than to ask all of us to go back into our homes. So for the benefit of coming out to reopen parts of the economy, there is a price to pay which is to reorganise ourselves to do this safely,” Ihekweazu said.
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