As some states recalled students of primary and secondary schools back to classes, the federal government on Monday called for more vigilance to avert a possible resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools have reopened in Lagos, Kano, Ekiti, Ogun, while many others have fixed dates for resumption.
The federal government noted that if care was not taken, the appreciable progress recorded may be eroded especially in the wake of schools resumption, the opening of the air space for international travels and relaxation of a number of restrictions with a view to improving the economy.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha said this in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the task force.
According to Mustapha, over the last one week, the scientific community had tried to explain some new manifestation of COVID-19 spread amidst continued reversal of gains in the battle mostly in countries around Europe, a development that prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to express some concerns.
Mustapha said that Israel had re-introduced a three-week lockdown, the United Kingdom was considering another lockdown phase and Spain was enforcing a partial lockdown in Madrid amidst protests by its citizens.
To buttress his point on the need for caution, the SGF said over the last three days, the global cases passed the 31 million marks, and it took only four days to get there from 30 million.
“Specifically, the lesson for us in Nigeria is that in spite of appreciable progress recorded, we should be vigilant more than ever before because we have relaxed a number of restrictions in opening up more sectors of the economy and schools are beginning to open in varying degrees,” he said.
He warned that the call became more pertinent in view of the noticeably increasing disregard for basic non-pharmaceutical measures that have proven very successful.
Mustapha lamented that face masks have been turned into chin masks, while social distancing and gatherings were returning to the pre-COVID- 19 era.
Daily Trust reports that states have been taking decisions on reopening schools at a time when some stakeholders including medical experts and some parents were expressing reservations.
They specifically expressed fears over a possible spike in COVID-19 cases especially in public schools where facilities for social distancing are in short supply.
