– Cleric cautions against continued closures
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has extended the lockdown in the state by another one week following 34 fresh positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 134 or an increase of over 30 per cent in the last one week.
He stated this at the weekend during a media briefing on activities of the state government to contain further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He attributed the increasing number of cases to expanded testing capacity, currently at 450 daily, which has enabled the state to embark on aggressive testing, especially in communities with a possible high prevalence of infection.
“The testing has presented us with the stark reality that community transmission is on the increase in our rural and urban communities. We will keep expanding our testing capacity by deploying more personnel and testing centres to every nook and cranny of the state.
“In spite of several warnings and the concerted efforts of our security agencies, a number of our people have continued to flout the measures in place to flatten the curve of the spread.
“Some residents still go to public places without face masks or use the facemasks in a manner that do not shield their mouths and noses.
“Motorcycles and tricycles riders still carry more than the approved number of passengers of one and two and drivers of taxi cabs and passenger buses are also culpable in the flagrant violation of the guidelines.
“Our markets have also not fully compiled with physical distancing and recently, 108 violators of the lockdown and other measures have been arrested and prosecuted.
The governor said the current pattern of lockdown, with relaxation windows from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays continue.
“We will continue to monitor the level of compliance with the lockdown measures and incidence of community transmission and hopefully, there will be positive developments that will enable us further ease the lockdown at the end of this new lockdown period.
“We must also bear in mind that the daily curfew from 8 pm to 6 am and the ban on non-essential inter-state travel as directed by Mr. President still stands,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bishop of the Diocese of Ife, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Reverend Olubunmi Akinlade has commended the Federal Government for being proactive in fighting the CORVID-19 pandemic, but cautioned against unbridled lockdown, which he said will detrimental to the survival of Nigerians.
Akinlade, who spoke to The Guardian on the state of the nation, described the continued extension of lockdown as a double-edged sword, saying, “We should not forget that majority of Nigerians are daily income earners. Therefore, the government could succeed to keep them locked in and end up having more people dying of hunger than from the virus.
“Secondly, should the lockdown continue unabated, people will resist the exercise after a while, no matter the restrictions or punishment imposed on them when they could no longer afford their daily meals.”
Akinlade advised the government to enforce lockdowns in such a way that there would be enough time for people to go out and at the same time practice social distancing, adding that Nigerians need more of orientation, awareness and education which must be carried to the grassroots. seeks education of Nigerians.
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