Minister of State Education, Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba stated that schools shut nationwide in March as part of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 would only be reopened when it was safe to do so.
It described as “fake news” the information circulating about the scheduled date for school resumption.
The minister said,
“We want to open when it is safe to do so. We have heard about neighbouring countries that opened and shut. We have heard about cases spiking with children getting into school. Of all the things I will like to do, I will not like to experiment with your children.
“We want a situation where once we are sure it is safe. We can then take them into school.
“I have just finished a meeting with the representatives of WAEC and NABTEB and I understand how that worries our parents at the moment and how anxious our children are to know what next.”
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC], Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, on Monday said the South-East geopolitical region was not conducting enough COVID-19 tests.
The NCDC DG said the centre was not surprised by the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in Abia State.
He said,
“We were in a way surprised and not too surprised because we know that the testing numbers in the South-East have been low and this has been an advocacy point for me.
“We have reached out to all the states in the South-East. We know the people in the South-East travel a lot and there is no reason why there won’t be more cases there given the tendency to travel.”
Ihekweazu noted that the PTF was worried about the insufficient data emanating from the region, adding that with improved testing capacity, more infections would be recorded.
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