Lagos based firm is sending 15 staff members to quarantine – here’s why
The entire 15 staff members at the headquarters of a Lagos based media company, Birdview Group are on the process of undergoing tests and possible quarantine in a statement released by the CEO, Ayo Alaba Idowu on Tuesday. The staff will be taking the exercise after it was discovered that one of their colleagues had been exposed to the reported case of Coronavirus in Lagos yesterday. The company which engages in content creation, strategic communications and travels and tours, has been in operation nonstop since it was founded in Ikeja until now.
Idowu revealed through a post on his Facebook and Instagram accounts on Tuesday that he took the painful decision to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the staff and to also help in stopping the spread of the Coronavirus.
“Today, I made a painful, but necessary, decision to suspend operations at our business headquarter in Ikeja for the next 15 days, and subject about 15 employees in the building to Coronavirus test and subsequent government quarantine or self-quarantine,” he said.
“This was after a staff was exposed to a family member that returned from [the] U.K. on Saturday and tested positive to Coronavirus in the early hours of today. The person that tested positive had lived in the same house with our staff member between Saturday and early hours of today [Tuesday].”
“Nigerian government reportedly traced the person to the Ogba address in the early hours of today [Tuesday], conducted the test and found out that the person was positive. Our immediate response to the situation was not to discriminate against the staff that was exposed but to join hands to stop the spread of the global pandemic situation. We are providing all possible supports to keep our people safe and fight COVID-19 together,” Idowu explained.
Lagos has been on high alert since the Coronavirus outbreak. There had been two confirmed cases in the city, who have fully recovered and discharged before this new case. Having come into the country through a British Airways flight 75, the Lagos state’s Minister of Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi advised all the passengers on the flight to self-isolate for 14 days.
To keep business running, Idowu disclosed that their Lekki office will remain open while the rest of the staff work remotely.
“However, we will be putting up a notice that will advise a set of people, especially those who recently traveled in the last 14 days, to stay away from physical meetings and rather engage remotely or simply visit again after 14 days,” he clarified.
Idowu who is currently away on vacation with his family in Canada said he was already “contemplating either cutting our trip short or staying much longer than planned”.
“The truth is that both options come with their own risks and we have to do [a] thorough assessment of the situation to determine which one has less exposure for us. We are taking COVID-19 very seriously and are doing everything possible to join hands to stop the spread. We also urge you to take it more seriously than you have ever imagined.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire has confirmed five new cases of Coronavirus in Nigeria during a press briefing on Wednesday [today] in Abuja. Together with the UK returnee who put the staff of Birdview at risk, and the two previously reported cases, Nigeria has recorded a total number of eight COVID-19 cases at the moment.
In response to the growing cases of the Coronavirus, the federal government has placed a travel ban that will come into effect on Friday, March 20 on 13 countries with more than 1,000 confirmed cases of Coronavirus. Countries affected include China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland.
Nigerian government officials have also been restricted from making overseas travels.
