Coronavirus: FG reacts to claims of COVID-19 being ‘hoax, scam’

The Federal Government has lamented that some Nigerians still believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax.

Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, maintained that the COVID-19 pandemic was real and not a scam.

Mustapha, who is the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19, stated this on Wednesday during the weekly press briefing of the body.

He stated that COVID-19 was a real disease that had killed a lot of people around the world.

The SGF counseled Nigerians to stay safe and protect their loved ones from contracting the disease.

He said: “The Coronavirus is not a joke. Please, take it very seriously and listen to the government. Please stay safe and protect your loved ones, nothing is more important.

“Listening to this, I think we’ve gone past the stage, however ignorant a person is, wherever you live in Nigeria, for you to begin to assume that this is a scam, a hoax or a joke and I think those of you in the media have the responsibility for driving this point.

“This is not a joking matter, we’ve gotten to the stage where we are beginning to see some of the things that are happening in other climes.”

Meanwhile, Nigeria has 276 confirmed cases of COVID-19, while 44 patients have been discharged.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, made the disclosure while confirming twenty two new cases of COVID-19 across the country.

Of the new cases 15 were identified in Lagos, four in the FCT, 2 in Bauchi and 1 in Edo State.