As the two-week lockdown imposed on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states by President Muhammadu Buhari expires today, the nation awaits the next move of the president on COVID-19 Regulations 2020 he handed down effective from March 30, pursuant to Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act (CAP Q2 LFN 2004).
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, had said on Saturday that the lockdown would subsist for as long as necessary.
But lawyers, who spoke last night, said the regulations being based on a law would have to be reviewed by the president through an amendment to the proclamation he made on March 30, specifying clearly the number of days the lockdown would be extended.
Presidency sources said yesterday that the president was considering the interim report of the Presidential Task Force, which reportedly recommended an extension by 14 days.
While the president ponders on the likely extension of the lockdown, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the federal government would this week come to a compromise on insurance package and other incentives for doctors fighting COVID-19 in Nigeria.
This was coming as the number of confirmed cases rose by five bringing the tally to 323 with 85 discharged and 10 dead.
Lagos State Government yesterday discharged five more COVID-19 patients from its isolation centres, bringing to 55 the total number of successfully managed cases in the state. The FCT and Osun State follow with 11; Oyo, four; Ogun, two; and Ekiti, one.
The dead are spread over Lagos with five; FCT two; Edo one; Delta one; and Katsina
Source: THISDAY
