A Presidential Task Force for the Control of the Coronavirus-19 has been appointed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

The 12-member task force is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha.

A State House statement by Buhari’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, announced the appointment on Monday in Abuja.

It said,

“Given the current global outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and its potential of causing significant disruption to health services in the country as well as impacting negatively on the economy, President Muhammadu Buhari has established a Presidential Task Force for the Control of the Coronavirus-19 Disease (COVID-19).

“This action is in preparation for the unlikely but probable major outbreak of the disease in the country which will require a multi-sectoral inter-governmental approach as advised by the World Health Organisation similar to that adopted for the HIV epidemic in the last two decades.”

The committee has a mandate of six months to deliver on the assignment.

The National Coordinator of the committee is Dr Sani Aliyu.

Other members are Minister of Health, Prof Osagie Ehanire; Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Minister of Aviation, Mr Hadi Sirika; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Services, Sadiya Umar-Farouk; Minister of Education, Mr Adamu Adamu; Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Mahmoud; Director-General, Department of State Services, Mr Yusuf Bichi; Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control; Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu; and World Health Organisation Country Representative.

Nigeria has had one index case of Coronavirus so far, an Italian receiving treatment in Lagos.

Other suspected cases of the infection have tested negative.

However, the Federal Government has made a provision of N920million for health agencies to plan and guard against further spread of COVID -19 in Nigeria.