COVID-19: Kwara Govt shuts down schools, orders civil servants to work from home

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The Kwara State Government has ordered the immediate closure of all public and private schools in the state, as part of efforts to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease.

The government has also banned all gatherings of more than 25 people and issued a stay-at-home order for civil servants excluding health workers and first responders, effective from March 23.

This order was contained in a statement signed by the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Sunday, and made available to Channels TV.

Although the state has no confirmed case of the Coronavirus disease yet, the governor said proactive measures were necessary to prevent any such incident, even as the state embarks on a healthcare transformation to give its residents quality and affordable healthcare.

“Currently, we have no confirmed case of COVID-19 in Kwara State. However, as a proactive government, and consistent with our determination to upgrade healthcare infrastructure in Kwara state, I have since approved funding for the construction of an isolation centre at the onset of our administration. 

“In Kwara State, we are following the lead of the Federal government by mobilising all resources available to us to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Kwara,” he said.

[READ MORE: COVID-19: Lagos asks civil servants to stay at home)

He announced that the “COVID-19 Technical Committee” had been set up, headed by the Deputy Governor and comprising of healthcare professionals and officials. This committee would have the task of combatting COVID-19 in Kwara State.

The governor added that a ‘20-bed high-quality isolation centre’ had been completed and equipped at Sobi Specialist Hospital and plans were underway to build additional and well-equipped 12-bed intensive care unit at the General Hospital, Ilorin.

He encouraged Kwara residents to adhere to the safety and hygiene directives from the World Health Organisation and other recognised health institutions.

“As a community, we must do everything possible to prevent any transmission of COVID-19 by embracing the concept of social distancing and self-isolation. These measures are to prevent anyone that may be infected with COVID-19 from spreading the disease to others. An exponential spread of COVID-19 in our community might be catastrophic because we could have thousands of our citizens sick at the same time,” he warned.