The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, is contemplating locking down Lagos and Plateau states as well as Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, as the second wave of the virus continues to spread.
The National Incident Manager of the PTF, Mukhtar Muhammed, stated this on Friday while speaking on a Channel Television programme, Sunrise Daily, describing the rising cases of the coronavirus infections recorded in the three areas as alarming.
Muhammed noted that current data has revealed that local governments in the affected places recorded the highest cases of covid-19 amid the second wave of the pandemic in Nigeria in the last three months.
Presenting the figures from the Nigerian Center for Disease Control as at today, Muhhamed said Lagos has the highest infection rate of 46,935, followed by Abuja with 16,470 while Plateau has a total of 7,801 cases of infections.
“Even if we are going to have a lockdown, it is not going to be a total lockdown. A couple of weeks back, we analysed the data and we identified the hotspot local government areas.
“We have been analysing the data and we have been looking at the geographical areas that have been most affected and the different age groups.
“Mostly, the areas affected are the urban local governments in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau. Even in most other states, it is the urban areas that are involved. So, if we are going to have any restriction, it will be in these areas.
“The urban areas are the most affected and that is why we have these superspreaders and that is where we are going to target. We have analysed that and we are advising the states based on the data that these are the focused areas where these transmissions are more than the others,” Muhammed said.