Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, has directed all civil servants from grade levels 1-12 to resume work from Tuesday, September 1.
Diri gave this directive in a meeting with the state Covid-19 Taskforce on Monday in Yenagoa.
The state government had asked civil servants in the state to stay at home from March 26, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, in a bid to curtail the spread of the pandemic in the state.
Daniel Alabrah, Acting Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in a statement, said the governor stated that the Covid-19 restrictions were being reviewed as the pandemic curve in the state was flattening, but the workers must abide by all safety guidelines.
On the resumption of schools, the governor noted that while students in terminal classes were writing their examinations, he directed that all primary six pupils to also resume academic activities as the government was evaluating the situation pending when other classes would resume.
The governor has set up a sub-committee made up of the Technical Adviser on Security, Boma Spero-Jack, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Inodu Apoku and the service commanders to liaise with proprietors of night clubs, supermarkets and banks on ways of ensuring compliance with the presidential guidelines on Covid-19.
Diri, however, stressed that the presidential curfew from 10 pm to 4.00 am was still in place and insisted on the use of facemasks, sanitisers and maintenance of social distance in order to avert a second wave of the infection as predicted by health experts.
His words: “We insist on the use of face masks, especially in urban areas. We are appealing to the sensibilities of people to comply with the Covid-19 protocols and we need to sustain the enlightenment on the existence of the virus.
“Our duty is to ensure that the presidential directive on the curfew is obeyed and fully implemented. We do not want to be seen as a state that is acting contrary to such directives.”
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Inodu Apoku, said the total number of Covid-19 test samples in the state from inception of the outbreak to date was 10,234, laboratory confirmed cases 370, number of active cases 24 while total number of deaths was 21.
Apoku disclosed that the 600 candidates writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in the state were screened out of which and that 20 of them tested positive to the virus.
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director, Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Dimie Ogoina, expressed gratitude to Diri for establishing a molecular laboratory diagnostic centre and approval of the employment of 10 medical personnel for the management of Covid-19 patients.
Ogoina expressed gratitude to the governor on his efforts at linking the NDUTH to the independent power project, which has been providing 24 hours power supply to the hospital.
