Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has imposed restrictions and sanctions following a 6.6 per cent rise in daily Covid-19 cases in the state over the past week.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has imposed restrictions and sanctions following a 6.6 per cent rise in daily Covid-19 cases in the state over the past week.
Under the new restrictions, the Governor said there should be compulsory use of masks in all public places.
Governor Sanwo-Olu in an address on Sunday also directed social distancing, compulsory temperature checks, provisions for hand-washing and sanitisers, and a maximum of 50 per cent occupancy in enclosed spaces.
The governor urged worship centres to be particularly vigilant, advising them not to be carried away by the illusion that all activities were back to normal.
Explaining the severity of the situation, Sanwo-Olu said “Starting around the end of March 2021, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos began to wind down, and we began to enjoy some reprieve from the worst effects of the virus. This allowed us to further open up the economy to allow the start of the journey towards full normalcy in our lives and the pursuit of livelihoods, after what has been a very difficult year.
“Regrettably, in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lagos State.
Sanwo-Olu said between 8th May 2021 and 7th July 2021, a total of 50,322 passengers of interest arrived in Lagos via the Murtala Mohammed Airport.
About 18 percent could not be reached by EKOTELEMED because of the provision of either wrong numbers or wrong Nigerian contact details to be reached on.
“It is the responsibility of passengers to ensure they provide the right details for us to reach them for proper monitoring”, he noted.
Passengers that do not provide the right details, including a phone number they can be reached for monitoring and an address for isolation, will be penalized.
Sanctions are being recommended and have already been meted out to defaulters: For foreigners: revocation of their permanent residency, and deportation; For Nigerians: prosecution with the Lagos COVID-19 Law.
He also decried the low vaccination rate in the State, adding that efforts are being made to reach the immunity target of 60 per cent.
