The Federal Government, yesterday, denied media reports that it has imposed new restrictions on COVID-19.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the rebuttal at a meeting with online publishers in Lagos.
Mohammed said there were no new restrictions, adding that the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 only reiterated existing regulations to control the spread of the disease.
The minister, a member of the steering committee, said the committee’s national incident manager, Mukhtar Mohammed, was quoted out of context during the briefing of the committee on Monday, in Abuja.
He said the only thing that was newly introduced was that anyone, including Nigerians travelling from Brazil, Turkey or India, must go through compulsory quarantine.
“What we did was the need to remind people of the existing extant regulations on COVID-19. Government has not introduced anything new. You can still travel by air or road or any other means, but ensure you wear your face mask. We have not opened night clubs, the regulations on social distancing, social and religious gatherings, use of face mask are still in place. The curfew between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. is still on and we are saying people must obey the existing protocols,’’ he said.
The minister said the emphasis became imperative because Nigerians were taking things for granted and behaving as if COVID-19 had gone.
He said India made the same mistake and they were paying dearly for it at the moment