The Director General of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari will make some difficult decisions on COVID-19 containment next week.

He therefore urged Nigerians to be prepared for the tougher directives that the federal government would put in place to tackle the spread of the pandemic.

Ihekweazu, who was speaking in Katsina when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Aminu Bello Masari at the Government House, said the decisions would be taken across the nation in different ways.

He added that President Buhari would, on Wednesday, have a teleconference with state governors and there will be some difficult decisions to be made on how to revamp the economy of the country.

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He said: ”Next week, Mr. President will make some very difficult decisions for the country in terms of the lockdown in three states but also across the country in different ways.

"There will be some very difficult decisions to be made about how to restart part of the economy, what to restart and what not to restart.”

The NCDC boss explained that Nigeria could not get back to the pre-Covid-19 era, insisting that some adjustments have to be made in the country’s engagements with the outside world.

He reiterated that scientists are working on a vaccine, which he said may not be ready for up to a year, adding that a mechanism had to be established for controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Responding, Governor Masari said the state government had established a Covid-19 Rapid Response Team headed by the state deputy governor with membership mostly from the Ministries of Health and Information, security agencies, religious and traditional leaders.

He affirmed that 80 per cent of the positive cases in the state are from the index case in Daura, calling for support from the NCDC to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

Masari noted the State Government had to travel for about 12 hours after collecting samples of suspected patients for test in the laboratory at Abuja.

He said: ”Availability of a testing centre here will actually help in reducing the duration and the stress we are presently going through.

“Samples from Katsina had to reach Abuja in 24 hours otherwise it would not be tested.”