President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, approved the lifting of restrictions on interstate travel effective tomorrow. He also extended the second phase of the relaxed lockdown by four weeks beginning Tuesday, June 30, 2020 to midnight of Monday, July 27, 2020. Though all schools will remain closed, arrangements would be made for graduating students in Primary 6, JS3 and SS3 to resume and prepare for examinations.
Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 Boss Mustapha and PTF Coordinator Sani Aliyu made the disclosure in Abuja, yesterday, during the daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.
Aliyu said: “All day care and primary schools are to remain closed till further evaluation. Schools should continue with e-learning and virtual teaching. But pupils should proceed to take the National Common Entrance Examination as soon as it is feasible, provided there is compliance with non-pharmaceutical guidelines.
“For secondary and tertiary institutions, all schools are to remain closed till further evaluation. Arrangements are to be made for exiting graduating students in Primary 6, JS3 and SS3 to resume at both day and boarding schools as soon as possible for intensive revision exercises.
“All educational establishments must conduct exhaustive reviews to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines before they open. Arrangements will be made for students taking WAEC, NECO and NABTEB exams, and all schools must comply with the six recommended steps and required measures to be issued by the Federal Ministry of Education before an institution is reopened in the timeline to be provided.”
Mustapha called for increased adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions, saying in the absence of a vaccine or cure for COVID-19, this alone will save the country. He said the aim of the second phase of the eased lockdown was to sustain the gains of previous efforts to control the pandemic and enable the restart of additional sectors of the economy.
The Federal Government also lifted the ban on local flight operations, even as it disclosed that the industry would benefit from a N2.3 trillion bailout package.
Aliyu said domestic operations could open as soon as practicable but in line with existing international and local guidelines on COVID-19.He noted that passengers must arrive the airport three hours before flight to observe health protocols put in place by the airport authority.
Source: Guardian Newspaper
