Lagos State threatens to revert to full lock-down

Lagos State Government has announced plans to revert to full lockdown if there is no improvement in adherence to the public health guidelines.

The government noted that in the first week of the easing of the lockdown, there had been a repetitive and flagrant disregard for the earlier announced health guidelines, a move that could frustrate the government’s efforts to contain the virus.

“As a government elected to uphold the security of its citizens, which includes health security, we will not hesitate to review the terms of #EasingTheLockdown if we do not see an improvement in the adherence to our public health guidelines over the next couple of days,” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said in a Saturday evening tweet.

Despite massive advocacy, it is disappointing to see the crowd at banks & markets across the state flouting the guidelines.

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We will be forced to take the painful decision of bringing the state under lockdown if it remains clear that Lagosians are determined to flout the rules.

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) May 9, 2020

Low compliance from public transporters

Sanwo-Olu said that the state was at a critical point in the management of the virus, and people had to take responsibility for their safety and the safety of others around them, by strictly adhering to government directives.

(READ MORE:Covid-19 Update in Nigeria)

He noted that low compliance on social distancing directives had been observed from operators of commercial buses, and commercial motorcycles, which were still plying roads despite the suspension of their activities.

To bring the situation under control, the state government has directed security agencies to confiscate any motorcycle or commercial bus of drivers who flout the rules.

Low compliance with the guidelines by operators of commercial buses and the flouting of the directive by commercial motorcycles will not be tolerated and the security agencies have been directed to confiscate any motorcycle seen flouting the rules.

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) May 9, 2020

Community management of cases

Given the rapid increase in the number of cases in the last week, the state government is decentralizing the isolation strategy to allow primary healthcare facilities into the network of isolation centers.

The Governor said that some primary healthcare facilities would be accredited to manage mild and moderate cases of the virus.

In the weeks ahead, there will be a change in our isolation strategy as we transition towards decentralization.

We will be introducing community management of cases by accrediting primary healthcare facilities for the management of mild-to-moderate cases of #COVID19 patients.

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) May 9, 2020

Since the phased easing of the lockdown commenced on Monday, the number of confirmed cases in Lagos has risen from 1,107 cases on Monday, May 4 to 1764 on Saturday night May 9.

This means that within 6 days, the state experienced a 59.3% increase in the number of confirmed cases, the highest weekly increase ever recorded in Lagos State since the discovery of the index case in February 2020.