Coronavirus: Kaduna shuts schools, bans gathering of over 50 people

The Kaduna state government has ordered that all schools and campuses in the state be shut down as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.

Muyiwa Adekeye, media adviser to Nasir el-Rufai, the state governor, announced the government’s decision in a statement on Friday.

The government also banned all public gatherings of more than 50 people.

It said while there is no record of the disease yet in the state, the action is necessary to prevent and curb the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

According to the statement, mosques and churches have also been asked to suspend congregational prayers and services.

The government advised that all public gatherings should be restricted to at most 10 people.

“As part of measures to protect residents from, and slow down the spread of the coronavirus disease, the Kaduna State Government is restricting religious services and all large gatherings. While no case of Covid-19 has been reported in the state so far, the government has a duty to work with all our leaders and residents of our state to jointly ensure that everything is done to reduce the chance of the disease taking root and spreading in the state,” the statement read. 

“Public health expert advice is that large gatherings of more than 10 persons are not advisable at this point, and any assembly of more than 50 persons are therefore prohibited in Kaduna State until further notice. 

“As part of the required containment measures, the state government has already announced the closure of all schools – all nursery and primary schools, secondary schools and all tertiary institutions effective Monday, 23rd March 2020. Accordingly, the state government has directed the immediately closure of the campuses of our KASU, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, College of Education and of Nursing and Midwifery for 30 days in the first instance.

“These measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus also known as Covid-19 mean that social gatherings in parties, bars, restaurants, night clubs, public parks and such places are suspended until further notice. In light of the decision to close all of our schools for 30 days in the first instance, it is logical to discourage other large, high-risk gatherings.

“Government urges all citizens, including religious and community leaders, to do their duty in supporting these measures which will help in significantly protecting the larger society from the negative impacts of Covid-19.

The federal government had shut down tertiary institutions in the country and placed a travel ban on 13 countries as a measure against the spread of the disease.

Nigeria has so far recorded 12 cases of COVID-19 across three states — Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti.

There are over 250,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 10,405 deaths worldwide.