BREAKING: Senate bans public hearings, excursions to galleries over coronavirus outbreak

The senate says it is suspending all public hearings until further notice.

The upper legislative chamber said this is to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

It also said it will suspend entry into its gallery for whatever purpose, including for excursions and visits from schools and organisations, starting from Tuesday.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan made the announcement after an executive session before Thursday’s plenary session — a day after the house of representatives proposed banning visitors from the legislative complex.

The National Assembly Complex receives an average of 3,500 visitors weekly.

Nigeria currently has eight confirmed cases of the virus — five of which were announced on Wednesday.

All the cases were linked to contacts that had been to affected countries. The outbreak has led to the initiation of measures to curb the spread of the virus, including ban on public gatherings and closure of schools.

Apart from banning public officials from foreign trips, the federal government had also banned travellers from 13 countries that have over 1,000 cases of the virus.