The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has put the resumption of school for second term on hold following the second wave of COVID-19 ravaging the entire world.
In a statement on Monday, Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairman of the PTF, said while all schools were expected to have vacated on 18th December, they will now hold on till 18 January, 2021 for resumption tentatively.
He attributed the spread to a number of factors including the opening of the economy, the airports and resumption of schools.
”From our assessment, the current situation is clearly the consequences of certain occurrences and events of the last few weeks. These include, ‘Sudden increase in social gatherings involving large congregations from different parts of the country, and the world, at events such as weddings, religious activities, political rallies, conferences and end of year celebrations;
“These events, classified globally as ‘supers-spreader events’, make the risk of a single infection causing a large outbreak among attendees significantly higher;
“Furthermore, as we reopened the economy, we experienced increased economic, social and religious gatherings and activities all of which have combined to play a part in viral transmissions. These include:
a) The opening of the international airspace in September 2020 – While the average number of daily imported infections into the country in the last 90 days is estimated to be about seven cases, compared to 100-150 reported new infections in the community since the beginning of community transmission, the test positivity rate in travellers arriving Lagos has recently doubled to 6.3%;
b) The resumption of schools – outbreaks have been reported in schools following the resumption of physical classes.”