The Nigerian government Thursday ordered immediate closure of tertiary institutions, secondary and primary schools nationwide to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Africa’s most populous nation.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono confirmed this move, according to a communique, noting that all 104 Unity Schools in Nigeria should close on the 26th of March, 2020, till further notice.
Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, confirmed four new cases of coronavirus Thursday, barely 24 hours after five cases were reported in the country.
Nigeria, by virtue of this development, has recorded a total number of 12 confirmed cases.
As of 19 March 2020, more than 206,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in not less than 170 countries and territories, with major outbreaks in China, Italy, and Iran.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has advised African countries to “prepare for the worst” amid the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
To date, 233 cases of the new coronavirus had been registered in sub-Saharan Africa and four people had died, making i