Lagos State tertiary schools will reopen on Sept. 14 as part of strategies to gradually ease the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Saturday during the 17th Update on the Management of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Lagos State.
”We are pleased to announce that tertiary institutions will reopen from Sept. 14, 2020.
”However, as regards primary and secondary schools, we are working toward reopening these institutions anytime from Sept. 21, 2020.
”This decision is not cast in stone and is subject to a review of our ongoing modelling of the state’s response to the pandemic,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The COVID-19 Incident Commander said that the decision to re-open schools was carefully thought through, in view of the decline in the number of positive cases and the progress recorded in response.
Sanwo-Olu urged the management of the schools to ensure adherence to the safety guidelines.
He said that restaurants were permitted to open for in-dining services and must ensure maintenance of 50 per cent maximum occupancy at any point in time.
According to him, restaurants must also have obtained a Provisional Safety Compliance Certificate through the registration portal of the Lagos State Safety Commission: www.lasgsafetyreg.com.
He said that social clubs and recreational centres with registered trustees had also been permitted to open on the condition that they had applied for and obtained a Provisional Safety Compliance Certificate.
”I must put on record here that we are sympathetic to the plight of business owners, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sectors.
”We are still reviewing the permissible opening dates for these businesses and will advise on this during the month of September.
”For the avoidance of doubt, all event centres, bars, lounges, night clubs, spas, beaches, cinemas, gyms and game arcades remain closed for now.
”All civil servants in the state’s unified public service system are to comply with prevailing guidelines and roster schedules issued by the Head of Service and/or MDAs,” Sanwo-Olu said.
He said that the government would continue to keep the residents updated on the decisions taken in response to the pandemic.
Sanwo-Olu called for continued understanding and cooperation, saying that the times were challenging and required much patience, sacrifice and understanding.
According to him, Aug. 28 marked six months since the first case of novel coronavirus was recorded in Nigeria, from a traveller who landed in Lagos from Europe.
He said that since then the situation in Nigeria had progressed from travel-related infections to the community transmission stage, bringing with it, significant disruptions and changes to the way people live, socialise, worship and work.
Sanwo-Olu said that as at Saturday (August 29), Lagos State had a total of 18,083 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
According to him, of the number, there 13,636 had recovered in communities; with 1,820 currently active in communities.
”Over the course of this pandemic, about 2,700 persons have been admitted into our various isolation centres across the state; of this number, we have registered 204 fatalities.
”This leaves us with 47 active cases under management across various government-owned isolation centres and private care centres in the state.
”Lagos State continues to be the epicenter not only of the pandemic but also, I am pleased to say, of the response as well.
”We continue to lead the way in testing, tracing and treating aggressively and adapting our responses to the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic situation.
”I am also pleased to announce that our modeling shows that all our efforts at responding to this pandemic are achieving the desired goal of flattening the curve, as we continue to see a consistent decline in the rate of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the state,” he said.