Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has warned that he might be constrained to order another round of lockdown in the state if the the residents persist in flouting public heslth guidelines issued by the government to curtail the spread of the dreadful coronavirus pandemic.
“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, the governor said.
Speaking on Saturday during a maiden briefing after the ease of a five-week lockdown imposed by the Federal Government,
Sanwo-Olu was emphatic that the State Government would be forced to review terms of easing the lockdown if there was no improvement in the adherence to the guidelines initiated to break the cycle of transmission of the dreaded virus.
According to the governornor, there will be a change in the State’s isolation strategy in the coming weeks, pointing out that Lagos was transiting towards decentralisation of management of COVID-19 cases.
This he said would lead to the accreditation and incorporation of primary healthcare facilities and private hospitals for the treatment of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 patients.
Hr said his government was surprised watching residents going about their businesses in the last five days after the ease of lockdown without complying with the public health guidelines despite massive advocacy.
He said the crowd observed at various banks and markets across the State flouted the public gathering directive, noting that the Government would not watch while 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 easing of lockdown if we do not see an improvement in adherence to our public health guidelines in the next couple of days, ” he said.
Sanwo-Olu apprised the media of some developments in the state’s unrelenting fight against the rsvaging pandemic.
The governor said, “As we eased restrictions on movement, we have increased our testing capacity and we are also actively increasing our isolation capacity.
“Members of the public will also see a change in our isolation strategy in the weeks ahead, as we transition towards decentralisation.
“What this means is that 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.
“However, we will guide this initiative carefully to ensure that it is not done at the expense of the capacity required to handle other medical cases.”
Sanwo-Olu said the State Government’s order restricting the operation of commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, had been defied, directing the police to confiscate any commercial motorcycle seen flouting his directive.
The Governor also instructed security personnel to strictly enforce the ban on inter-state movement, directing the police to turn back all pedestrians trekking to Lagos from boundary highways.
The Governor said the task of ridding the State of the ravaging virus must be a collective responsibility and not a task for the Government alone.
He advised residents to adhere strictly to the health measures initiated by the Government, stressing that the use of face mask was made compulsory to protect unaffected population from the virus.
