President Muhammadu Buhari has signed a new law that prescribes a 6-month jail term for anyone who is caught in public without a mask on. The new law designed to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic is targeted at forcing people to take safety protocols more seriously.

The chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, disclosed this in Abuja, on Wednesday, January 27.

The bill titled “Covid-19 Health Protection Regulations 2021” reads: “The regulations enforce physical distancing of at least two metres and regulation of the number of people to be admitted in an enclosed environment.

The new regulation imposes restrictions of gatherings and enforces a physical distancing of not less than two meters between persons at all times. It also provides that no gathering of more than 50 persons shall hold in an enclosed space, except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50 per cent capacity of the space.

The regulation also demands that all persons in public gatherings, whether in enclosed or open spaces, shall adhere to all the provisions of the law which may be varied by Guidelines and Protocols as may be issued, from time to time, by the PTF on COVID-19 on the recommendation of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Nigeria recently recorded 25, 267 active cases with the economic capital Lagos reporting the highest number of cases with 8, 576, followed closely by Abuja with 5, 759.

Here is a full list of states in Nigeria and the number of confirmed cases by state: