The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the COVID-19 pandemic said it had slowed down the spread rate of the virus in the country.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, who disclosed this during the daily media briefing by the task force in Abuja, also said 92 percent of contacts tracing had been achieved.
Mustapha, who is also the Chairman of the PTF, disclosed this while reeling out the achievements of the task force, adding that the body had also passed down new round of advice to President Muhammadu Buhari on what the next steps should be having observed developments and considered reports from all relevant quarters.
He, however, advised all Nigerians to watch the President’s live broadcast later in the day to keep updated on government’s lines of action in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 in the country.
While assuring that the task force was already making a headway on fight, Mustapha urged the public to continue to maintain the calm, observing all the advisories and to continue showing understanding by respecting the measures instructed in containing the spread of the virus.
“Ladies and gentlemen, since the broadcast of the President on Sunday 29th March, 2020 the Presidential Task Force has, with your support accomplished the following objectives that underpinned the measure:
“Slow down the spread in order so as not to overwhelm our fragile health system;
Intensified case identification, testing and isolation. Intensified contact listing and isolation-( 92% of all contacts have been identified)
“Increased laboratories by 100%- (Lagos -3; Abuja-2; Irua-1; Ibadan UCH-1; Iree-1; Jos-1; Kano-1; Abakaliki-1) there are now 11 laboratories in the network. Increased testing by 50%, to the current capacity of 1,500 tests per day, with over 6,000 tests done. Procurement concluded for new high throughput testing by end of the month.
“Distributed Personal Protective Equipment to over 40,000 healthcare workers – there have been no stockouts.
Trained over 7,000 Healthcare workers on infection prevention and control. Deployed NCDC teams to 19 states. Visited Lagos to evaluate the readiness.
“Despite all of these, the PTF is convinced that we must deliver more. We have also been assessing the impact of the lockdown and the level of compliance by Nigerians.
“While we recognize the difficulties associated with such an unprecedented action, we remain certain however, that it is a step in the right direction for us to secure a healthier tomorrow.
“Based on the evaluation of experts, assessment of available data and experiences of other nations currently in the same situation, the PTF has submitted its recommendations to Mr. President and I urge Nigerians to please await further pronouncements in this regard.
“The PTF continues to appeal to all Nigerians to remain calm, maintain personal hygiene, observe physical distancing and stay at home”, he said.

By Bolaji Ogundele