COVID-19: Osun govt extends lockdown by three days

Osun State governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, on Thursday night, extended the lockdown order in the state by another three days.

The lockdown, which was supposed to end today, will now terminate on Sunday midnight.

According to Oyetola,  the three days extension was to avoid escalating community transmission.

In a state-wide broadcast, Oyetola, who commended the resilience and cooperation of the people, said measures would be put in place to avoid community transmission of COVID-19.

According to him, “I must place on record the steadfastness of all health workers and volunteers for their unprecedented commitment to duty and sacrifice in arresting the spread of this much-dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. Your collective sacrifice will never be in vain.

“I also wish to salute the cooperation of our traditional rulers, religious leaders, captains of Industry, businessmen, security agencies, farmers, artisans, students, pressmen, workers, our market women and men, NURTW leadership and its RTEAN counterpart, and indeed all other interest groups in the state for their cooperation which has earned us the credit to arrest the rising profile of the pandemic in the state,” Oyetola stated.

He said, “to avoid escalating community transmission, we have decided to review the lockdown which terminates at midnight of today, Thursday, 30th April, to strike a midway without unnecessarily putting the lives of our people and the economy of the state at risk.

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“The following rules shall apply in line with the recommendations of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the approval of Mr President and our peculiar situation: There shall be 3 days lockdown extension, with effect from 11.59 pm on Thursday, 30th April till Sunday, 3rd May. All the prevailing lockdown conditions shall subsist during this period.

“Effective from Monday, 4th May 2020, the following rules shall be enforced:

“There shall be partial lockdown between 6 am and 5 pm from Monday to Thursday to enable the people go about their businesses and allow government to run. However, total lockdown shall be in force from 6 pm on Thursday to Sunday.”

“There shall also be a dusk to dawn curfew from 6 pm – 6 am from Monday to Thursday until further notice. Movement of vehicle and persons is outlawed during the period of the curfew except for verified medical emergency cases and those on essential duties. Also, the ban on public, religious, political and educational gatherings remains in force. Additionally, all major markets shall remain shut.”

“Citizens must observe such protocols as social distancing, hand-washing and wearing of masks at all times in public places. Defaulters shall be sanctioned accordingly. Businesses are expected to provide liquid soap and running water and hand sanitisers, while supermarkets should not have more than 10 persons at any time in their store.

“Inter-state travels are forbidden and as such, our boundaries remain closed. For the avoidance of doubt, there shall be no vehicular and human movement into and out of the state except trucks carrying medicals, beverages, foods, petroleum, construction and agriculture supplies. These supply vehicles shall not carry more than three persons.

“Intra-city commercial transportation will be permitted to work from Monday to Thursday every week from 6 am to 5 pm, but they are required to adhere to strict social distancing directives. Commercial vehicles, that is: buses and taxis, shall carry two passengers per row with each passenger sitting at the extreme end of the vehicle. While commercial motorcycles (Okada) shall carry one passenger, tricycles shall carry not more than two passengers and no passenger in front.

“Violators of the aforementioned directives will be prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the state.

“Officers and staff on Grade Level 12 and above, administrative officers irrespective of their grade levels, those on essential services and those whose services may be required by the Accounting Officers are to report at their desks, Monday to Thursday at the usual working hours. They must adhere strictly to the protocols of the NCDC.

“You will all recall that the distribution of the palliatives sourced by the 21-member Food and Relief Committee began on Tuesday this week.

“The committee will continue to source for and administer palliatives for the vulnerable in the State in conjunction with relevant government officials,” Oyetola concluded.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE