The Governor of Lagos State, Governor Sanwo-Olu has threatened to bring the entire state under lockdown, if Lagosians continue to flout the social distancing orders and other laws put in place by the state to slow down the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking during Saturday’s briefing on situation of things so far in the state, edpespecia on how Lagosians continue to flout social distancing orders, Sanwo-Olu said:
“The crowd observed at various banks and markets across the state flouted the public gathering directive. We would not watch people violate the state’s guidelines towards combating the pandemic.
As a Government elected to uphold security of its citizens, which include health security, we will not hesitate to review the terms of the ease of lockdown if we do not see improvements in adherence to our public health guidelines in the next couple of days.
We will be forced to take a painful decision of bringing the entire system under lockdown if we continue to see evidence that Lagosians are determined to flout the rules,” he said.
He continued by explaining why the initial lockdown in the state was eased by the Federal government, saying:
“The controlled and gradual easing of the lockdown was to strike a balance between the protection of lives and the sustenance of livelihoods.
However, I was taken aback, watching residents going about their businesses in the last five days without complying with the public health guidelines despite massive advocacy,” he added.
On the current situation of coronavirus in the state, the governor gave the following statistics, and why more needs to be done; saying:
“This week has been unprecedented in terms of the numbers of newly confirmed cases in Lagos State. As at Friday, we had 1,683 confirmed cases. 448 have been treated and discharged, while we have sadly lost 33 persons.
The trend of recoveries is encouraging, and we believe it will continue at this rate. It gives us the much-needed confidence to face the difficult days ahead.
Clearly, we are in the community transmission stage, and the only way to be sure we are making all the right decisions is ensuring that we continue to scale up testing.
In order to hasten treatment processes, we will be introducing community management of cases, by accrediting and incorporating primary healthcare facilities and private healthcare facilities for the management of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 patients.
We are at a critical point in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic where every citizen of the state needs to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing.
As citizens, we have a great burden upon us to behave responsibly. These times demand a lot from us, in terms of actions and behaviours that may not be comfortable.
To stay alive and well, we have to abandon old habits and customs, and adopt new ones,” he added.