COVID-19: Federal govt asks tailors to start using ankara to make face masks

– The federal government wants Nigerians to wear face masks when they are outside their homes – This has prompted the government to urge tailors to produce facemasks using local fabrics like ankara – The government believes this would encourage Nigerians to wear facemasks whenever they are outside their homes The presidential task force on the coronavirus pandemic has asked tailors all over the country to start producing face masks using local fabrics such as ankara and others. Chairman of the task force and the secretary to the government of the federation, Boss Mustapha, made the plea during its daily briefing in Abuja on Thursday, April 16. Mustapha stated that this would encourage people to wear face masks whenever they are outside their homes. Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state was recently spotted wearing an ankara facemask. His words: “Let me also encourage all our garment factories and tailors all over the nation that this is the time to start producing locally, using our local fabrics, the ankara and all other materials that we have because of advisories that as much as possible, we should wear our face masks whenever we are outside our homes. “That way, we’ll reduce the chances, in addition to other necessary things that you need to do, of infection or infecting others. “It is critical to repeat, however, that compliance with the advisories for personal hygiene, social distancing, restriction of movement, early reporting of symptoms and wearing of masks regularly, especially in public, remains the best measures for the prevention of infections and to slow down the spread.” Meanwhile, the Nigeria Center For Disease Control (NCDC) has commenced community testing for the COVID-19 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This is as the federal government scales up efforts to curb the spread of the disease, especially in rural areas and city suburbs. In a tweet on Tuesday, April 14, the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that the agency had increased its testing capacity. According to the NCDC boss, the agency is planning to test 1000 samples daily in Abuja and other parts of the country. “The target is to test 2000 samples in Lagos, 1000 in Abuja and in the rest of the country daily, of the right people who meet the case definition,” the NCDC boss said.