The Nigerian government has ordered a partial lockdown across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as fears of a possible new wave of the coronavirus looms.

The National Incident Manager Mukhtar Mohammed, who is a member of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, announced the new directive on Monday during a briefing in Abuja.

The lockdown would limit public gatherings to a maximum of 50 persons, as well as enforce the closure of all bars and recreational centres.

The curfew which would take effect by midnight of Tuesday, May 11, 2021, would restrict anyone without a facemask from accessing government institutions across the country.

According to Mohammed, all official engagements, meetings and conferences were to be conducted through virtual channels while travels had also been limited.

Unlike the first phase of national lockdown in 2020, Mohammed stated that intra-states travels were not banned but only essential international travels would be encouraged with adherence to protective measures.

The committee has directed security personnel across the 36 states and the FCT to enforce the adherence to the measures put in place.

Since the index case was recorded in 2020, Nigeria has recorded more than 165,000 positive cases of the virus, while 2,065 persons have died from it with 156,000 discharged.

So far, Nigeria has reportedly vaccinated 1 million out of its estimated 200 million population.