Religious centres will be allowed to reopen for worship in Lagos from Friday, June 19 (mosques) and June 21, 2020 (churches).
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who announced this while giving an update on developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Thursday, also disclosed that seven additional testing centres (laboratories) are being made ready within the next few days, to further assist in tamping up testing for suspected cases of the coronavirus.
The government, Sanwo-Olu said, is at the verge of getting the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to accredit the seven new centres, which will bring the total test centres in Lagos to 11 from the existing four.
Sanwo-Olu also gave the nod for civil servants on grade levels 13 and 14 to resume work from Monday, June 22, while grade 1 to 12 should continue to stay home until further notice.
According to the governor, the religious centres, though given the go-ahead to reopen, must, however, limit congregational gatherings to 40 percent of their total capacities and observe all protocols and guidelines that make for safety of worshipers and check further transmission of the disease.
Such protocols, he said, include mandatory wearing of facemasks by all persons going into the churches and mosques, provision for handwashig under running water, sanitizers and observance of reasonable distance by the worshipers.
The religious centres are also expected to limit their gatherings only to regular Sunday services (churches) and Friday Jumat prayers ( mosques) as all other services including night vigils are prohibited for the time being.
There will be no communion or sharing of food of any kind in the churches, no sharing of kettle in the mosques
Sanwo-Olu said aged persons, 65 years and above as well young people, 15 years and below are to steer clear from all religious gatherings until otherwise further directed. This, according to him, is necessary, as statistics of fatalities showed that persons within these brackets are more susceptible to the pandemic.
Compliance with these measures, the governor warned, would be strictly monitored by officials of the Lagos State Safety Commission, who would be paying surprise visits to the religious houses.
The government, he said, however, reserves the right to further restrict or cancel religious gatherings in the state, depending on new developments regarding the disease or their level of compliance with guidelines and protocols given above.
Sanwo-Olu, who also hinted of the full reopening of event centres and hotels across the state in two weeks’ time, called on the operators of such places to use this period to prepare their facilities in line with the guidelines earlier issued by the Lagos Safety Commission and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).
On schools, the governor said that ongoing learning via various online platforms would continue across the seven state-owned tertiary institutions while secondary and primary schools, both public and private remain shut until while government consult with all relevant stakeholders in the education sector.
“We are engaging with the ministry of education and the safety commission. We will also be meeting with all stakeholders, and there are several of them in the education sector. We will be making a pronouncement on in two weeks’ time after engaging with the stakeholders,” said Sanwo-Olu.
