TheCable

The house of representatives has asked the federal government to ban all religious gatherings in the country to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The green chamber made the request at Wednesday’s plenary session after deliberating on the pandemic.

A prayer for the federal government to shut all schools for two weeks and to ban all foreign airlines from entering Nigeria was rejected by the house.

The lawmakers also resolved to test all members and staff of the national assembly, as well as temporarily ban visitors from the legislative complex.

They asked for an agreement between Nigeria and countries certified free of the disease on the mass production and supply of test kits and other infrastructure needed to tackle the virus.

They lamented the ill-treatment reportedly meted out to a suspected coronavirus patient in Enugu state, and asked the ministry of health to henceforth ensure adequate care for those under quarantine.

Nigeria currently have eight cases of the coronavirus — five of which were confirmed on Wednesday.

Apart from banning travellers from 13 countries with over 1,000 cases of the virus, the federal government had also suspended foreign trips for public officials.