COVID-19: Sanwo-Olu orders workers on GL 14, below to work from home

<!– Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos –>

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered civil servants on grade level 14 and below to stay and work from home as the second wave of COVID-19 takes its bite on Lagos State.

Lagos recorded 459 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest by any state since the pandemic broke out in February.

But Sanwo-Olu, who is currently down with COVID-19 said all civil servants from grade level 14 and below should stay and work from home except those on emergency duties and first responders.

“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.

According to him, Lagos State is recording an increase in COVID-19 cases in all local governments, which he said was not peculiar to Lagos alone, as the entire country is also seeing an uptick in the numbers of confirmed cases of the Coronavirus disease.

“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.

The governor said the state is ramping up testing and recently surpassed the 3,000 tests per day mark, adding that the state would 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. It is important to note that Lagos already 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 Centers. The only test centers where there is a charge are the private ones, and these are for intending travelers 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 centers spread across all the Local Government Areas in the State,” he added.

Sanwo-Olu said the majority of patients were electing to isolate at home, but that the state’s public isolation centers – of which the IDH in Yaba is the flagship – continued 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 Centers.

“Do not seek treatment for the disease in private hospitals that have not been accredited for such treatment,” he said.

The governor warned all private testing facilities that are complicit in the allegations of colluding with individuals to issue fake Covid-19 Test Results, as the state had zero tolerance for this kind of criminal conduct, and would not hesitate to prosecute anybody found culpable, in addition to shutting down the offending laboratories.