Rumours that the federal government will impose another total lockdown next week due the rise in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Nigeria have been debunked.

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said no such plan is being considered.

This follows the circulation of a WhatsApp broadcast on social media on Thursday.

PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, insists the federal government was aware of the economic implication of a fresh lockdown.

He said, “We are aware of a fake message on WhatsApp that we’ve declared a lockdown in the country. This is absolutely not true. I call on the Nigerian public to please ignore this message and continue with normal activities.

“I’m also calling on the public to abide by the non-pharmaceutical interventions including wearing of face masks in the public, washing of hands and maintaining physical distancing.

“There is an established way that we send our messages to the public including declarations when it comes to infection control. So, please ignore what is being going round on WhatsApp.”

The Nigerian government has already confirmed that schools will still reopen nationwide from Monday, January 18.

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