Kwara State has recorded additional three cases of COVID-19, bringing the total in the state to 14 confirmed infections, with two recoveries.
Kayode Alabi, the Deputy Governor and Chairman Technical Committee on COVID-19 announced this on Friday at a press briefing in Ilorin, adding that the state had started aggressive contact tracing.
The state has also approved a special allowance for health workers in appreciation for their dedication to duty.
According to Alabi, one of the three cases was imported while the remaining two were contacts of earlier cases.
“In line with the Federal Government’s guidelines to gradually open up the economy, the Governor has directed the Kwara State Technical Committee to come up with modalities on how to gradually return to normalcy from Monday May 4, 2020, while ensuring we respect all safety protocols.
“We want to make it abundantly clear that we are caught between two extremes as we are definitely not out of the wood. We are caught on the one hand by the need to protect people’s lives in compliance with our oath of office, and on the other by the need to not totally cripple the economy.
“We are not out of the wood. Just today, Kwara has recorded three more new cases of COVID-19. That takes us to 14 confirmed cases in Kwara. Of these, 12 are active as we had earlier discharged two. All our cases are stable and in the best spirits.
The deputy governor declared that aggressive contact tracing had since begun, adding that this incident of another imported case explained why Kwara is now deploying the military personnel to man its borders while police and other security agencies maintain their hold internally.
“We are proud to say that our strategy to prevent community dissemination is working so far. We thank all our frontline workers for this great feat. We urge them to keep the good work. In recognition of their hard work and sacrifice, His Excellency the Governor has approved special allowances for all the healthcare workers attending to our COVID-19 cases in Kwara State.
He said that in preparation for a gradual easing of the lockdown in the state, the government had earlier directed the production of 500,000 face masks which have started coming in in bits. At the moment, we have commenced mass distribution of over 40,000 face masks and sanitisers to markets, bus parks and transporters, hospitals, and elsewhere.
“We will continue to distribute as we receive more masks in the next few days or weeks. We call on private individuals and corporate organisations to also produce masks.
“Going forward, the committee wishes to announce the phased reopening of the economy as follows: Agriculture; farmers and related services are to operate under the current Kwara State guidelines earlier spelt out in previous communication,
strict adherence to NCDC social distancing guidelines (reduction of work force may be necessary to maintain social distancing)
Alabi said that all workers must wear appropriate face masks, and that while intra-state and inter-state transportation of agricultural products are allowed, decontamination of the vehicles should be carried out after trips to States with high numbers of COVID-19 (Lagos, Abuja and Kano). Also use of trailers to transport humans is strictly prohibited, he said.
“All construction firms and workers in the state should resume work, State Civil Servants should continue to work from home except for those on essential services or those granted special permissions, ” he said.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
