The Federal Government has reintroduced phase IV of the COVID-19 lockdown in a bid to prevent a third wave of the virus in the country.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha explained yesterday that this decision was necessary because of the surge and violence of infections of the new variant resulting in mass deaths in India, among others.
Mustapha added: “This step has become compelling in view of the fragile state of our health systems, the disruption to the vaccines delivery and the lack of compliance with the extant public health measures and social measures contained in the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations 2021.
“In taking this step, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) requests the state governments to please step up to play lead roles in the area of enforcement and sanctions.”
The new restriction measures announced by PSC incident manager Dr. Mukhtar Mohammed that took immediate effect including:
Nationwide curfew from 12:00am to 4am
Restrictions on mass gathering to a maximum of 50 people in an enclosed place
Restriction on resumption of workers from GL 12 and below
Closure of event centres, bars and night clubs
Restaurants to provide eat-ins at 50% capacity
People 60 years and above or with ailment advised to stay at home or avoid crowds
Dr. Mohammed said military personnel are to monitor and enforce adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions on public transport, that is wearing face masks and maintaining social distance.
