Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

As anxiety mounts over the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria, the House of Representatives on Wednesday charged the Federal Government to immediately ban religious and other public gatherings in the country.

The House also resolved to restrict visitors to the National Assembly forthwith, until further notice, as well as directed the management of the National Assembly to put measures in place to check the temperature of lawmakers, their staff and others, who have legitimate business within the parliament before they are allowed access.

However, the House rejected a motion calling for the closure of schools in the country for 14 days.