The Federal Government on Thursday said it is trying hard to prevent another lockdown, even as fears continue to mount over the rising cases of COVID-19 infections in Africa’s most populous nation. 

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire disclosed this on Channels Television's Politics.

He noted that the federal government has insisted it would only push for a lockdown of the country as the last resort.

He said: ''The lockdown is always a last resort. It is not the first step that the government takes. If you hear of the countries which had to do lockdown –  the UK and many European countries –  it was because they were getting figures that were running virtually amok.”

''So, the consequence of a lockdown on the economy including the social consequences are such that you do not take that (lockdown) as a first step. So, we are trying very hard to see that it does not come to a lockdown.”

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COVID-19: Thirteen more die in Ghana

Nigeria on Thursday recorded 864 fresh COVID-19 cases.

The number of COVID-19 fatalities in Nigeria stood at 1,547 as of Thursday night.

Also, the total number of confirmed cases increased to 127,024.

Recall, President Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday signed the Coronavirus Health Protection Regulation 2021, a move targeted at strengthening Nigeria’s efforts at combating the disease which has infected more than 100 million people globally.