Lagos shuts down 70 percent of workforce

The Lagos State Government has shut down almost 70 percent of its workforce from Monday, 23rd of March 2020 as part of measures to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated this on Sunday after six new cases of coronavirus were found in the state.

He, however, exempted “those providing essential services”.

Sanwo-Olu said, “We are shutting down almost 70 percent of our workforce from Monday, 23rd of March 2020. We are shutting down levels 1-12 in our public service for the next 14 days,”

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, six new coronavirus cases were diagnosed in Lagos on Sunday, bringing the total to 24, four in Abuja, one in Oyo and one in Ekiti.

“Three new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Lagos, Nigeria. 2 cases are returning travellers and 1 is a contact of a confirmed case. As at 05:28 pm on the 22nd of March, there are 30 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with no deaths”, NCDC stated.

“We know the enormity of the task at hand, and we are ready for it. We are working with market leaders and even public transport unions to ensure social distancing.

“Self-Isolate for at least 14 days if you are just returning to from abroad. That would be the right thing to do.

“We must always rise to our challenges. We will win with the cooperation of Lagos residents. We have done this before; we will do it again.”

The governor also said more isolation centres have been created in the state.