President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that Nigerian economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown as a result of coronavirus.
The president gave the warning on his Twitter handle on Thursday.
While appealing that the nation must do everything to avert a second wave of the disease, he said the reduction in the number of cases must not be allowed to rise again.
His words: “Looking at the trends in the other countries, we must do all we can to avert a second wave of Covid-19 in Nigeria. We must make sure that our cases, which have gone down, do not rise again. Our economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown.”
British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, has reported that two of Europe’s biggest economies are already reinstating some form of national lockdown, as the continent confronts a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths.
From Friday people in France will only be allowed to leave home for essential work or medical reasons.
President Emmanuel Macron said the country risked being “overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first”.
Germany, meanwhile, is imposing a “soft” national lockdown.
The measures coming into force on Monday are less severe than in France, but they include the closure of restaurants, bars, gyms and theatres, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
Infections are rising sharply across Europe, including in the UK which on Wednesday announced 310 new deaths and 24,701 new cases.
In England, a new study shows almost 100,000 people are catching the virus every day, putting pressure on the government to change policy from a regional approach.
In France, Covid daily deaths are at the highest level since April.
On Wednesday, 36,437 new cases and 244 deaths were confirmed.
