The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has cautioned Nigerians against non-essential interstate travels.
This, it said, was to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19.
The Head of Risk Communications Division, NCDC, Dr Yahya Disu, gave the warning during a Channels Television programme, ‘Sunrise Daily’ breakfast show, monitored in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was triggered in Nigeria by travellers, who moved across states for the last Christmas and New Year holidays last December.
Disu urged Nigerians to learn from that experience and avoid unnecessary trips for the Eid-el-kabir next week.
The PUNCH had earlier reported warnings by experts against a fresh lockdown because of its likely impact on the economy.
Disu said, “More importantly, Sallah is coming when people just travel and that makes the risk higher in villages in different parts of the country.
“So, we need to warn people that they don’t need to travel if it is not necessary; you can celebrate where you are. During Sallah, we go to the mosque in large numbers, but this is the time we need to be very cautious.
“We are working with religious organisations. The second wave in Nigeria started because of Christmas, because people travelled for Christmas. So, we can avoid it; we can learn from it. A life that we lost is very important for every one of us; it could be anybody. So, it is not worth it to lose a life because we want to celebrate Sallah or Christmas.”
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