The Nigerian Government’s Decisions on Coronavirus are now public, thanks to the Presidential Task Force On Coronavirus. They have reached important decisions that will impact almost every Nigerian in the coming day and weeks, but before we get into that, let’s start from the beginning.
On December 31, we saw the beginning of a fast-spreading new virus – the coronavirus. On February 27th, a first case was announced in Lagos, Nigeria. The NCDC has been seemingly on top of the case — reporting new cases and attempting to track down possible cases. As of today, there are only three known cases of the virus in Nigeria.
Nigerians have been clamoring for the president to address the country and for the government to take proactive steps in sensitizing citizens. Some citizens want the borders to be closed and for travel to be banned. Well, in response to this, a Presidential Task Force On Coronavirus (PTF-COVID9) was recently set up by the Nigerian government and here are the decisions they reached on March 17.
1. Nigerians are advised to cancel or postpone all non-essential travel:
The Nigerian Government is saying that if you don’t have to travel, you shouldn’t travel to places with high-risk. Find some of those countries here.
2. Public officials and civil servants are BANNED from official travel:
We do honestly hope that this is not spoiling all of our dear president’s travel plans. Just a genuinely concerned citizen here.
3. Anyone that comes into Nigeria from the abroad is to self-isolate for 14 days:
Self isolating simply means staying indoors and completely avoiding contact with other people. This is to stop other people from getting it. It Is important to do this if you’re showing Coronavirus symptoms. Symptoms include runny nose, dry cough, fever. Other times you should self isolate:
- Before getting tested for coronavirus.
- While you wait for test results.
- If you have had a positive test result for coronavirus or been in contact with someone who has tested positve.
Here are six tips to protect yourself from the virus.
4. The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control will be actively monitoring everyone who has come into Nigeria:
No, they don’t want to deliberately spy on you. They want to protect Nigerians and it only applies if you’ve come from a country with high community transmission rates (esp countries with 1,000 cumulative cases and above).
5. We’re to avoid crowded places and practice social distancing:
Social distancing is basically curtailing social contact with people. It might mean working remotely, instead of going to work. The Nigerian Government is urging Nigerians to practice social distancing in order to limit/stop the spread of the disease.
It’s hard considering a lot of states are quite clustered and you may not escape entering danfo. But what can woman do in this perilous times? We’ve made a list of things we think you should avoid.
6. If you’re wondering who is on the Presidential Task Force For The Control Of Coronavirus Disease, here’s a list.
It took the Nigerian government long enough, but we’re glad they’ve spoken; the Nigerian government’s decisions on coronavirus are now public.
We hope they put their money where their mouth is and enforce these decisions.
While we wait for more instructions from the federal government, we thought of innovative ways to greet your friends outside of hugging and handshaking. Find out about that here.
