Kunle Adelabu
-Asks residents to take responsibilities to guide against further spread
In a bid to curtail the spread of the second wave of the COVID – 10 pandemic in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday (yesterday), ordered Civil Servants on grade level 14 and below to stay and work from home.
Sanwo – Olu is one of the latest victims of the pandemic as Lagos recorded 459 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, December 17,2020, the highest by any state since the pandemic broke out in February.
Civil Servants on emergency duties and first responders are, however, not included in the work from home directive.
“All public servants from GL 14 and below, except emergency workers and first responders, are to work from home as from Monday, December 21st for the next 14 days – in the first instance,” he said.
Also, in a circular released on Friday, by the Lagos State Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri –Okunola, titled, ‘Stemming the tide of the second wave of COVID 19 Pandemic’, the governor’s directive was reiterated that “the Civil Servants from Grade Levels 14 and below should work from home with effect from Monday, 21st December2020 till Monday, 4th January 2021 in the first instance.”
The governor, in a release, said that the state is recording an increase in COVID-19 cases in all local governments, adding that the development not peculiar to Lagos alone.
“Of every 100 tests that we now perform, an average of 10 turn out to be positive. This is an increase from the 5 per hundred recorded in September, but lower than our peak in August which was between 20 and 30 per hundred. This suggests the existence of active community transmission, and represents the very likely possibility of the emergence of a second wave in Lagos State.
“This second wave calls for a full re-awakening of caution and precaution. The complacency that crept in over the last few months as a result of our early interventions when cases started to decline from our peak in August, must now give way to an abundance of vigilance”, he stated.
Speaking on testing and treatment for the disease, Gov. Sanwo – Olu said:
“We are ramping up testing, we have now recently surpassed the 3,000 tests per day mark, and we will keep raising this number. So far, we have performed 197,000 tests in Lagos State of which 26,000 have been diagnosed positive for COVID-19. Sadly, we have lost 226 persons (May their souls rest in peace). It is important to note that Lagos already had tests far more than any other State, accounting for 25 percent of the total numbers tested nationwide.
“It should be reiterated that testing in the designated public facilities remains free; the Lagos State Government does not charge for COVID-19 Tests in its Testing Centres. The only test centres where there is a charge are the private ones, and these are for intending travellers and also those who seek to know their status for some reason or the other.
“All persons who are showing symptoms and fit the case definition for the Coronavirus disease will continue to be tested free of charge in the government testing facilities. Collection of samples for testing remains freely available in our sample collection centres spread across all the Local Government Areas in the State.
“The majority of patients are electing to isolate at home, but our public isolation centres – of which the IDH in Yaba is the flagship – continue to remain open to patients.
“We are working hard to ensure that all the supplies and consumables required are constantly made available, and we encourage all persons who have tested positive and are showing symptoms to seek care in our Isolation Centres”.
While warning residents not seek treatment in unapproved centres, the governor also warned private testing facilities colluding with patients to issue fake COVID 19 test results to desist from such act because the government will not condone such criminality.
“Do not seek treatment for the disease in private hospitals that have not been accredited for such treatment.
“Let me also sound a note of warning to all private testing facilities that are complicit in the allegations of colluding with individuals to issue fake COVID-19 Test Results. We have zero-tolerance for this kind of criminal conduct, and will not hesitate to prosecute anybody found culpable, in addition to shutting down the offending laboratories”, Sanwo – Olu warned.
The Governor, while stating that the state cannot afford another lockdown in view of the fact there is an economic recession, urged residents of the state to take responsibilities by adhering to the stipulated guidelines.
“Dear Lagosians, you will all agree with me that we cannot afford another lockdown of the economy. Amidst an economic recession, we must find a way to delicately balance the imperatives of life and livelihood. With this in mind, the only solution available to us is to take responsibility for all our actions, and to understand that we must stay safe not only for ourselves but for the sake of the entire society.
“The data we have, we strive to ensure that our decisions are as data-driven as possible, does not warrant the introduction of a drastic lockdown; we can achieve a lot simply by modifying our behaviour in other ways: reducing the size of gatherings, complying with containment protocols, and applying common sense.
“The Lagos State Government is now sounding a clear note of caution to all residents on the importance of maintaining the guidelines that we have put in place to protect us from the ravages of COVID-19. We cannot afford a reversal of the gains we have made against this pandemic”, Sanwo -Olu warned.
