President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday, April 27, 2020, announced the gradual easing of the lockdown in the three places in a broadcast.

Rejecting the decision, the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Francis Faduyile in a statement on Friday, May 1, 2020, said it is wrong for the government to relax lockdown at a time the country struggles to get Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and adequate bed spaces for patients.

The statement reads in part, “As the incidence of the COVID-19 hits the 2000th mark by this weekend, just seven days after hitting the 1000th mark, it figuratively tilts the epidemiological curve towards an upward spike.

“More so, the revelation by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control that the nation lacks bed spaces in Lagos worsens this frightening scenario.

“The easing of the lockdown even in phases is very premature. Nigeria should learn from her neighbour, Ghana, where the same action produced a 100 per cent increase in infection rate in just a week.

“Instead, the association believes that agencies of state should intensify efforts through mass enlightenment campaigns beyond current attempts to explain the dangers inherent in easing the lockdown prematurely in the face of rising infection rates; and also for the palliatives to reach the needy.

“With 113 healthcare workers in Nigeria reportedly infected with COVID-19 in the course of discharging their duties, NMA reminds all doctors and healthcare workers not to let down their guards in adhering strictly to infection prevention and control protocols.”

On Friday, coronavirus cases in Nigeria rose to 2,170 after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 238 new cases with 10 deaths in the country.