The Federal Government has urged Nigerians to prepare for tougher measures as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday.

He said the government would not hesitate to deploy the military and the police for contact tracing in cases where persons suspected to have contacted the virus do not voluntarily show up for testing.

He said, “We should be ready for tougher measures. The forms they will take will be out from the end of today or tomorrow. But Nigerians should be ready for tougher measures.

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“If we don’t do proper contact tracing, the figure will multiply every five days. Nigerians must take ownership of this initiative.

“We won’t hesitate to use whatever measure to ensure that we do not endanger other Nigerians. Containment is very cheaper than cure.

“A few people have helped. If you know you travelled recently, give yourself up to relevant agencies.

“If the situation warrants, we may be forced to use the police and the military for contact tracing. The police are already working on that. We don’t want the figure we have now to multiply. We should work towards containment which is cheaper.”

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