How Lagos plans to implement social distancing in Markets and public transport instead of total lockdown
Following the increasing cases of Coronavirus in Nigeria, the Lagos state government has announced plans to further contain the spread of the virus. The state which is the hardest hit in the country had taken initial precautions to tackle the situation by shutting down both private and public schools, banning religious gatherings exceeding 50 persons, and ordering the state’s civil servants to stay at home for 14 days.
Members of the public have also been advised to go out less and practice social distancing, which has proven to be an effective means of preventing the spread of coronavirus in many affected places.
Despite the restrictions, many people have been raising concerns about how these precautions would be defeated if the government does not shut down more crowd-pulling spaces like markets and public transport systems.
But the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has assured residents that steps are being taken to minimize such risks.
“We’ve had conversations with the heads of our markets from the Iya-oloja general to all of the market men and women and part of the things we have said to them is that they need to scale up their advocacy immediately,” Sanwo-Olu said.
“They must ensure that even when people come to the market, they obey this self-isolation so today, we’ve called them and we’ve passed on this message to them.”
The governor also revealed that the officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) had been ordered to ensure that all BRT buses should only carry sitting passengers.
“People should not be standing on those buses. It has a capacity of 47 passengers, that is the maximum and it stays within our limit of 50 people in a gathering which keeps it safe and secure,” he said.
Among the 36 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, 25 of them are from Lagos. And with an estimated population of over 20 million, there are fears that the virus could become a widespread epidemic if not properly handled.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC has advised all Nigerians who experience the symptoms of COVID-19 (dry coughing, fever, and shortness of breath) to call the centre on its toll-free line, 080097000010.
