Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has urged worship centres to ensure strict adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols following the increase in daily confirmed cases experienced in the state in the last three months.
Sanwo-Olu in a press statement noted that in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy in the state, there has been increasing in confirmed cases of COVID-19.
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The Governor explained that “the test positivity rate has said to have experienced a steep increase from 1.1% at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6% as at 8th of July 2021. The rapid increase within a week gives great cause for concern.
“Also, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at our isolation centres increased from an average of 1% to 6%. This is the new and disturbing reality that now confronts us.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu thereafter appealed that, “greater vigilance is required at this time in our Churches and Mosques and other places of religious worship. Even as we are pleased that religious houses are now open for worship, after the lengthy closures of 2020, we must not allow ourselves to be carried away by the illusion that all is now back to normal. This is especially critical, as Sallah approaches, in a little over a week from now.
“The festivities will no doubt bring people together in large numbers and create conditions that can sadly cause the spread of the Coronavirus. We must not allow this to happen.
“For this reason, we are mandating full compliance with all protective protocols. Compulsory use of masks in all public places, Social distancing, Temperature checks, Provisions for hand-washing and sanitizers, and a maximum of 50 percent occupancy in enclosed spaces.”
Giving details of the cases, the statement reads in part that, “as at the 7th of July 2021, Lagos State had recorded a total of 60,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 55,135 have recovered in-community and 770 are currently being managed actively in-community.
“Over the course of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, about 4,382 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres in Lagos: with 357 registered fatalities. In all, we have tested 563,679 samples in Lagos State since the pandemic started.
“Today we have 30 accredited testing centers: 26 private and 4 public health laboratories in the State, a significant improvement in capacity over the course of the past year.”