The Federal government said it will intensify efforts to monitor, test and isolate more people, especially at the community level.
President Muhammadu Buhari made this known today through a press release adding that only a collective international approach will mitigate the devastating effect of COVID-19.
The president participated in a virtual Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement and said national, regional and global strategies would be required to tackle the pandemic, that has ravaged humanity and caused unprecedented devastation to the well-being of people, their livelihoods, and global economy.
The president said “Since the outbreak of the disease, countries have made concerted efforts to limit the spread of the pandemic within and outside their borders as well as treating those infected by the virus.
he spoke on collective efforts of nations to tackle the pandemic as well as encouraging scientists and medical experts and said
“It is now clearly evident that no nation can independently and singlehandedly tackle a pandemic of this nature which is no respecter of borders, regions or status.Furthermore, we must all encourage and empower our scientists and medical experts to join the quest for a vaccine and cure to this universal plague.’’
On efforts of the World Health Organization, th president said “It is, therefore, essential to fully collaborate and support their initiatives of coordinating the international fight against the pandemic. Such efforts should include the protection of our medical workers, provision of medical supplies, especially test kits and ultimately, finding a vaccine to cure the disease.’’
President Buhari urged international financial institutions to assist member states in cushioning the negative impact of the pandemic in the spirit of solidarity, which will include extending concessional loans, technical support, lowering of tariff on medical equipment and consumables, sharing of expertise in case management, adopting open trade policies, as well as outright debt cancellation.
He warned that the pandemic had deepened pre-existing inequalities between and among nations, putting immense strain on tenuous systems and plunging those in the most precarious contexts into deeper poverty and hunger.
