Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma on Sunday ordered workers to stay at home until further notice following the upsurge in in Covid-19.
He also disclosed in the state broadcast that with 920 new confirmed cases recorded in December alone in the country, the state has recorded six deaths.
Describing the situation in the state as frightening, he disclosed that recent PCR-Based tests carried out in the state in accordance with the guidelines of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), revealed a frightful upward surge in the confirmed cases curve. “As of last week, no less than 32 persons were confirmed positive with Covid-19,” he said.
“Sadly, while the grim realities of increasing Covid -19 infections continues to confront us every day, a general complacency and false sense of safety amongst our people to Covid -19 safety protocols remain the order of the day. This trend must be reversed in the interest of everyone. The time to do so is now. The imminent danger posed by the human traffic surge occasioned by the season, makes immediate and drastic steps in this direction both cogent and urgent.”
In this respect, he emphasised that there is absolute need to avoid gathering of crowds of more than 100 people anywhere in the state. Where such crowds must gather, those involved must wear face masks.
There should be wash hand stands readily available with achohol based sanitisers at such gatherings.
To further strengthen safety measures, all government workers are to stay at home from Monday, December 21, till further notice, except for permanent secretaries and political appointees. This means that the state secretariat, which is a major crowd puller, will remain closed, from tomorrow, to the public until further notice.
In addition, wearing of face masks in public is henceforth absolutely compulsory. Mobile courts have been deployed all over the state to try any person caught without wearing face masks.
Equally, all Covid-19 safety protocols will henceforth be strictly enforced. “These include provision of wash hand stands and sanitisers in markets and worship places. Any person or persons caught not observing these safety protocols will be summarily prosecuted in the Mobile courts.
“As we enforce the safety protocols and monitor the situation, we shall regularly review developments to determine further measures that may be necessary.
” I will not want this Christmas to be the last for any of us. Let us take these safety protocols serious and observe them tenaciously. It is in the interest of all of us to do so.”
