The Kwara and Kogi State Government have directed all civil servants to work from home following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

In a statement released by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, all civil servants apart from the Ministry of Health and essential workers, are to work from home beginning on Monday, March 23 until further notice.

The Kwara State Governor who ordered the closure of all public and private nurseries, primary, secondary and state-owned Tertiary institutions, also placed a ban on public gatherings of more than 25 people.

Governor Abdulrazaq revealed plans of building additional and well-equipped 12-bed intensive care unit at the General Hospital, Ilorin. It was further gathered that a “COVID-19 Technical Committee” comprising of healthcare professionals and officials whose primary responsibility is to assist our administration in combating COVID-19 in Kwara State, have been constituted. The committee is headed by the Deputy Governor of the state.

The statement reads in parts;

As individuals, we are all responsible for the general well-being of fellow Kwarans and should work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by:

1) washing our hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds as much as possible daily;

2)avoiding touching our eyes, mouths, and noses;

3) covering our mouths and noses with our bent elbow or tissue when we cough or sneeze;

4) staying more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick and coughing, and wearing a mask if you are ill (especially if coughing) or looking after someone who is ill and coughing;

5) abstaining from handshaking until the threat of this COVID-19 is zero; and

6) avoiding crowded area and minimising any gathering to a maximum of 25.

As a community, we must do everything possible to prevent any transmission of COVID-19 by embracing the concept of social distancing and self-isolation. These measures are to prevent anyone that may be infected with COVID-19 from spreading the disease to others.

An exponential spread of COVID-19 in our community might be catastrophic because we could have thousands of our citizens sick at the same time.

Given the aforementioned and the global health emergency situation, our administration has taken the following difficult but important decisions to protect Kwarans:

1) Closure of all public and private nurseries, primary, secondary and state-owned Tertiary institutions.

2) Aside from Ministry of health and essential workers, all civil servants are to work from home.

3) All gatherings of more than 25 people are hereby discouraged until further notice.

In the same vein, Kogi State Government has directed civil servants on Grade Level 1 – 13 to stay off offices for 14 days as from Monday, March 23 as part of efforts to prevent the spread of Coronavirus to the state.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, made the announcement in a statement on Monday in Lokoja.

Fanwo said: “Only workers from GL 1 to 13 are affected by the directive to stay at home while GL 14 and above are to report at their offices.