The Lagos State Government has directed public officers from Grade level 1 to 12 to stay at home for the next 14 days as part of precautionary measures to control the spread of the corona-virus disease.
The State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, gave the order on Sunday during a statewide address adding that all measures are being put in place to check the spread of the virus.
According to the statement, the stay-at-home order will commence from Monday 23 March, 2020 across the state.
The governor however advised residents to maintain the social distancing culture noting that prevention is always better than cure.
He also noted that those who have just returned from foreign trips must self-isolate themselves for 14 days to be sure that they are free of the virus.
According to update by the National Council on Disease Control (NCDC), three new cases of the epidemic havwe been confirmed in Lagos from which two cases are returning travelers whilst one is a contact of a confirmed case.
in all, there are 30 confirmed cases of the disease in Nigerian as at 5.28pm on 22 March, 2020 with two discharged after treatments. So far, no death has been recorded.
He, however, exempted workers on essential services in the 14-day sit-at-home as he assured that more isolation centres have been created in Lagos State for necessary emergency responses.
In a statement by NCDC, there are currently five molecular laboratories network in NCDC’s laboratory network with the capacity to conduct test for Corona virus in Nigeria, and with assurance that the teams are working round the clock.
“Our lab teams are working round the clock to ensure rapid testing of samples from suspected #Covid-19-Nigeria cases across the country”, it said.
As part of the efforts by the Lagos State Government to further prevent a State- wide spread of COVID-19 especially in motor parks, garages and other public transportation related environment, the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation is hereby notifying the general public through this statement that the following guidelines are henceforth compulsory for all stakeholders in public Transportation in the State to comply with:
1. All Transport Operators/Companies are expected to sanitize their parks and garages regularly and continuously (at least before and after each trip)
2. All Transport Operators/Companies are expected to have at the entrance to their respective parks/garages, washing hand equipment with soap and running water.
3. All Operators are expected to have alcohol based sanitizers in their Vehicles for the use of Drivers, Conductors and Passengers
4. All Operators are not allowed to over crowd/over load their vehicles at this point in time, Passenger’s spacing must be fully observed. NCDC recommends that at least 2m (5feet) distance is required between anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness.
5. No standing in all BRT and LBSL bus operations
6. All buses should be at 60% capacity and not 100% (i.e danfo and other commercial buses)
7. All Air Conditioning System in public transport be put off
8. All public transport Operators/Company must have temperature reader to test each passenger before boarding the bus
9. All drivers and conductors should always wear hand gloves and nose guides while in transit
10. All passengers are also required to sanitize themselves before and after each trip
11. Passengers are also required to regularly wash their hands with soap and running water before and after each trip
12. Operators/Companies and passengers are expected to report any suspected case of COVID-19 to the Ministry of Transportation or call 08000CORONA
13. Passenger are also expected to report any Operator/Company that does not comply with these guidelines to the Monitoring Officer at sight or write to the Ministry, stating the Vehicle Registration Number, Park and Time.
The government is confident that by compliance to the directives, the state ais confident that together they can put off the raging fire of COVID-19.