The governors of the 36 states of the federation have unanimously agreed to ban interstate movements of people for 14 days.
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This is coming in the wake of the Federal Government’s ban on the movement of all persons diagnosed with COVID-19 to another state for treatment, saying they should receive medical in the state where the diagnosis was made.
The governors, in a communique after their virtual conferencing yesterday, said a restriction on interstate movements for two weeks was imperative to arrest the spread of the virus from state to state.
With over 25 states already affected by the virus and increasing evidence of community transmission, the governors called for the decentralisation of the COVID-19 response team to check community infection. They pledged to work with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, to protect health workers.
In the communique which was signed by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, and Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, the governors said:
Members expressed serious concern over the rising spread of the virus among health workers and resolved to work with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that health workers are adequately provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) and are constantly trained on the use of protective gear.
Governors unanimously agreed to the implementation of an interstate lockdown in the country over the next two weeks to mitigate the spread of the virus from state to state. Only essential services will be permitted.
The governors also said that they would set up COVID-19 Committees at the regional level, headed by their state Commissioners of Health to interface with the State Task Force Committees on COVID-19 already established in each state, in order to strengthen coordinated implementation of public health recommendations across states.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases, which hit a new high on Tuesday with 117 reported cases, stood at 873 on Wednesday with the discovery of 91 fresh incidences.
