Lagos state government has urged its residents to avoid being jailed for a year by complying with COVID-19 guidelines.
The spike of COVID-19 cases in Lagos has given rise to the new measures taken by the Governor, Babajide Sanwolu. Residents of Lagos are expected to wear a face mask when outside their homes.
The LASG had on Thursday directed for schools to vacate Friday, December 18, 2020.
After months of recording low figures daily, Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases have spiked in December with over 11,000 infections detected by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in three weeks.
Following the development of event with rising cases of the novel Corona Virus in Nigeria the Federal Government issued a new communiqué restricting civil servants from Grade Level 12 and below to stay at home for the next five weeks; the closure of all bars, nightclubs, pubs, and event centers, as well as recreational venues in all states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). All restaurants were also directed to close, except those providing services to hotel residents, takeaways, home deliveries, and drive-ins. Also, gatherings have been limited to 50 persons. While the ban on international flights is still being reviewed.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha announced this on Monday at the briefing of the task force in Abuja, the nation’s capital. He expounded that the directives were advisories issued to state authorities for implementation in the next five weeks.
Similarly, all informal and formal festivity events, including weddings, conferences, congresses, office parties, concerts, seminars, sporting activities, end of year events, have been restricted to not more than 50 people.
The government also limited all gatherings linked to religious events to less than 50 percent of the capacity of the facility of use with physical distancing and use of face masks.
According to Mr. Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), events where more than 50 people are attending should be held outdoors only.
He added that public transportation systems should carry passengers not more than 50 percent of their capacity, in compliance with social distancing rules.
“Nigerian authorities are aware of the calls to restrict international travels due to the discovery of new strains of coronavirus in some countries.” He spoke.
He explained that the task force was having discussions with the aviation and health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), on the calls for the restriction of international travels due to the discovery of new strains of the virus in certain countries.
Calls to restrict international travels were triggered by the report of another variant of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
According to him, the protection of Nigerians remains the primary concern of the government and it will not relent in its resolve.
The SGF revealed that the PTF would submit its end of the year report to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, adding that Nigerians would be kept abreast of developments in that regard.
The new variant of coronavirus in the UK and South Africa has forced dozens of countries to close their borders, including Canada, France, and other nations of the European Union have suspended flights from the UK.