The federal government has kicked against large gathering during Sallah celebration holding saturday, saying it might put many people, particularly the aged, at risk of COVID-19 infection.
This was coming after some governors in the northern part of the country relaxed the lockdown, imposed on their states to halt the spread of the virus, to enable their citizens to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr.
As the governors eased restrictions, Nigeria recorded 339 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing to 7,016 the total number of confirmed cases in the country.
It has also recorded 11 new deaths, raising the figures from 200 to 211 in the last 24 hours.
Announcing the update last night, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Lagos recorded 139 new cases, Kano and Oyo 28 each, Edo 25, Katsina 22, Kaduna 18, Jigawa 14, Yobe and Plateau 13 each, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 11, Gombe eight, Ogun five, Bauchi and Nasarawa four each, Delta three, Ondo two, while Rivers and Adamawa one each.
Speaking at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Chairman, Mr. Boss Mustapha, warned that the relaxation of the lockdown by states might boomerang and appealed to the governors to be cautious in their responses to agitations for the opening of places of worship.
”Mass gatherings for the purpose of the Eid or on Sunday, for now, expose the elderly to serious health problem.
It exposes this category of people to serious danger and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure they are not exposed to those dangers.
COVID-19 has come to stay with us. It has completely disrupted our ways of life and it is impossible to suddenly return that way of life,” Mustapha said.