• Friday, March 29, 2024
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UPDATED: Lagos reopens worship centres Aug. 7, social clubs Aug. 14

Sanwo-olu-speaking

After five months of lockdown as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, religious and worship centres in Lagos have been given the nod to reopen from August 7, 2020.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who announced this on Saturday during an update on developments relating to Covid-19 in the state, said mosques would reopen from Friday, August 7, while churches would reopen from Sunday, August 9, 2020.

They are, however, to limit their congregation to only 50 percent of their capacity and strictly observe all the Covid-19 protocols, including wearing face mask and hand sanitising.

The governor said that churches whose main worship days fall on Saturdays are also permitted to hold their services on Saturdays subject to the same guidelines as churches holding services on Sundays.

“Dear Lagosians, having carefully reviewed the current scenario in Lagos State, we have taken some important decisions in line with the ongoing objective of calibrating an effective balance between the competing demands of safeguarding lives and enabling livelihoods,” Sanwo-Olu said.

“First, we are increasing the permissible capacity for public gatherings from 20 to 50 persons. This applies to a wide range of events, from AGMs to funerals.

“Lagosians should please continue to keep in mind that there is documented evidence that mass gatherings can increase the spread of infectious diseases, such as coronavirus. As such, all standard prevention and control measures must be strictly adhered to: physical distancing, mandatory temperature checks and use of masks in public places, regular disinfection of premises, and strong personal hygiene,” he said.

The governor said that the religious centres must limit their congregation to only regular/main services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday while worshippers aged 65 years and above must stay away.

“Places of worship are allowed to schedule multiple services on their designated worship days, if necessary, as well as also encouraging as many people as possible to participate using virtual means,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He also said that restaurants would from August 14 be permitted to open for in-dining services on the proviso that they maintain a 50 percent occupancy capacity. They must also have obtained a Provisional Safety Compliance Certificate through the registration portal of the Lagos State Safety Commission: www.lasgsafetyreg.com.

Similarly, social clubs and recreational centres will reopen from August 14, 2020 also on the condition that they have applied for and obtained a Provisional Safety Compliance Certificate through the registration portal of the Lagos State Safety Commission.

“Note that these Safety Clearance certificates are at this time being issued only to social clubs with registered trustees. Clubs and centres that reopen without complying with these mandatory requirements will be shut down and dealt with according to the law,” he noted.

However, all spas, bars, lounges, night clubs, cinemas, games arcades remain closed. The possible reopening of these places, Sanwo-Olu said, would be further reviewed before the end of the month.

“As a state government we will be ramping up our monitoring and enforcement work, to ensure that all our guidelines and directives are complied with to the letter. The relevant agencies will be carrying out spot checks and random inspections of businesses and facilities, and defaulters will be sanctioned appropriately,” he said.

Speaking on other issues, Sanwo-Olu said the state has had a total of 15,150 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 10,835 persons who have recovered and discharged, but lost 194 persons to the virus since the outbreak of the disease.

“This leaves us with 1,813 active cases in community and 96 under management across various isolation centres in the state,” he said.

The governor said the state now has two pathways through which confirmed cases are managed: either through home-based strategy or in designated Covid-19 care centres.

“Those people in the home care category are being supported medically with our Covid Care Packs, and psychologically through our counselling teams available via our call centre 08000CORONA,” he said.

“In terms of our isolation centres, we have since last night shut down our Eti-Osa Isolation Centre and will be shutting down our Agidingbi Isolation Centre and moving all the patients there to our soon-to-be-commissioned Indo Centre.

“Furthermore, our Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yaba is now also gradually being reverted back to its status as a hospital to cater to all forms of infectious diseases. The Ca-Covid dedicated tent on the IDH grounds will, however, remain strictly for Covid-19 cases,” the governor explained.