The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Chikwe Ihekweazu, has warned Christians against the holding of Christmas carols, saying they are ‘super spreaders, of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Ihekweazu said this at the weekly briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday.

Ihekweazu said Christmas carols, travels and other gatherings during festivities were capable of turning out to be “super spreaders” of the virus, hence the need for Nigerians to avoid them as much as possible.

He said,

“This is really to re-emphasise the call by the PTF that many of the traditional meetings that we engage in at this time of the year, whether they are Christmas carols or festivals, trips, family gatherings, each of those could end up being a super spreader event.

“So, we must take this into consideration as we make our choices.”

WuzupNigeria reports that the NCDC on Monday announced 145 new cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The NCDC announced this via its verified website.

The new infections take the total number of cases in the country to 67,557.

The agency noted that seven states plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) reported new infections.

According to the public health agency, 227 persons have recovered and have been discharged from different isolation centres across the country.