COVID-19: NYSC can reopen orientation camps – PTF

The Presidential Task Force, PTF on COVID-19, has given the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, the go-ahead to reopen orientation camps across the country.

Speaking at their daily media briefing in Abuja on Monday, the PTF National Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, however, said that announcing the date for the reopening remains the responsibility of the NYSC.

“We have had further conversations with the NYSC; we have actually given them a date but the announcement of that date remains the responsibility of the NYSC,” he said.

Mr Aliyu lamented that all the states of the federation had failed to meet the testing target set for them, saying, however, that it was only the Federal Capital Territory that met its target.

According to him, Nigeria set a target of conducting 600,000 tests for the virus.

He said: “With the reopening of schools, the PTF remains concerned about the long-term impact of COVID-19 on education and eventually our economy.

“As of today, we are approaching about 600,000 Nigerians that have been tested for COVID-19. This might sound like a huge figure but it is actually quite low.

“Our target is for every state to test at least one per cent of its population. Only the FCT has achieved this target.

“Lagos is fast approaching (target), with about 97 per cent achievement. But other states are barely above 25 per cent.

“What it means is that most of us do not actually know our status and this becomes even more important as we continue to relax our restrictions.

“We know that coronavirus spreads silently and it spreads quickly, which is why we must follow safety measures at all times especially in our schools.”

In his remarks, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, warned against a second wave of the pandemic in Nigeria.

The PTF Chairman said the taskforce would soon unveil the next steps regarding the remaining phase of the eased lockdown.