COVID-19: Sanwo-Olu gives conditions to reopen churches, businesses in Lagos

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has revealed that he is considering reopening critical sectors of the State’s economy fully.

In a statement released on Sunday, Sanwo-Olu said the State Government would be rolling out Register-to-Open initiative, as part of the plans that would enable it assess the level of readiness of the players in the identified sectors for supervised operations.

The Governor stated that officials from the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) will be visiting restaurants, companies, religious houses to assess their level of readiness.

According to him, the government cannot afford to keep people and businesses in lockdown permanently.

He said: “We are at a level where we are reviewing the other arms of the economy.

“In the coming days, we will be starting what we call Register-to-Open, which means all players in the restaurant business, event centres, entertainment, malls and cinemas will go through a form of re-registration and space management.”

Sanwo-Olu added: “We are reviewing and considering how the phased unlocking will happen. If we see a huge level of compliance, then it can happen in the next two to three weeks. If not, it could take a month or two months. It is until we are sure all of these players are ready to conform to our guidelines.”

He, however, advised businesses, religious houses and residents to maintain the status quo until any official announcement is made.