Fresh National Lockdown Loom As PTF Discovers 13 UK COVID-19 Variants

 PTF Has Discovered Fresh UK Covid-19 Variants As Total Number Climbs To 13.

Truetells Nigeria reports that the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, on Monday, disclosed that 13 cases of the United Kingdom strain of the virus known as B117 have so far been detected in Nigeria.

This online news platform understands that the chairman of the task force, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at the weekly press briefing of the PTF.

Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said, “The PTF (through the NCDC) is working with the Africa CDC on genomic surveillance.

“A total of 13 B117 variant strains have so far been detected in Nigeria.

“Six out of these numbers were detected in the last one week and they all came out of samples collected between November and January.”

He said testing was still being aggressively pursued as a viable strategy and that the PTF shall continue to appeal to not just the citizens to get tested but call on sub-national entities to ensure that capacity of the laboratories that have been established within their jurisdictions be fully maximised.

This, he said, would help reduce the burden on the National Reference Laboratory and the attendant lengthy turnaround time for test results.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said that it is considering a targeted lockdown in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and some other major cities across the country.

This follows the record increase in the number of coronavirus infections in the country as a result of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

This disclosure was made by the National Incident Manager of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19, Dr Mukhtar Muhammad, while appearing on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily.

Muhammad pointed out that even if the government wants to impose a lockdown, in the face of a surge in Covid-19 cases, it is not going to be a total one.

What the National Incident Manager of PTF on Covid-19 is saying

Muhammad in his statement said, “Certainly, 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.’’

“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 restrictions, 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.”

Although recoveries from the disease in the country have crossed the 100,000 mark, the Federal government is worried that with over 127,000 infections, many citizens are not adhering to the safety protocols.

What you should know

• Nigeria has been hit by a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, since December 2020, with a record number of daily infections recorded across the country.
• The unfortunate situation seems to have eroded all the efforts put in the last 10 months by the government and some other stakeholders in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 disease.
• The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had on Thursday revealed that the country has secured additional 41 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as the fight against the disease intensifies.
• However, the date of the vaccine’s delivery into the country remains unknown as vaccine manufacturers struggle to meet global demand in time.