COVID-19: No time frame for train service resumption – PTF

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Thursday said the rail station would implement COVID-19 protocol similar to the airports before resumption of train service in order to tackle COVID-19 pandemic.

The PTF Coordinator, Dr Sani Aliyu, while reacting to the question of the time frame for train resumption, said the stations would open when all COVID-19 safety protocols were in place.

Aliyu also said that the PTF had also discussed with the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on the need to set up similar airport protocol before the resumption of train services.

Earlier, the coordinator said every state had an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for COVID-19.

He said that most states have hotlines that Nigerians could call to report symptoms and to get advice on how they could be tested.

Aliyu said that a lot of laboratories were underutilized, their capacity far exceeds what they were getting in terms of samples for testing in the country.

It was reported that Nigeria had tested 138,462 samples of which 26,484 were confirmed positive, with 790 cases diagnosed in the past one day.

The ratio of male to female among the infected had remained quite stable at 70 per cent to 30 per cent, while majority of the infected cases were below 50 years, the majority of the fatalities were over 50 years old.

The country have successfully treated and discharged 10,152 persons and sadly suffered 603 fatalities, most of them with underlying illnesses and belonging to those classified as vulnerable.

This rising trend requires that each state of the federation continues to prepare more bed spaces and increase sample collection sites, as well as improve logistics to deliver to designated laboratories promptly.

The government had also noted the importance of protecting the vulnerable by putting in place measures which took care of their social needs and reduce their exposure to risks of infection.