TheCable

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has extended the stay-at-home order for civil servants on level 14 and below to February 1.

Hakeem Muri-Okunola, the state’s head of service, made the announcement in a statement on Saturday.

In December, Sanwo-Olu banned street parties, carnivals and asked public servants on grade 14 and below to work remotely for two weeks.

Muri-Okunola said the governor gave the extension to curb the spread of COVID-19 but added that the directive excludes staff on essential duty as well as first responders.

“Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved a further extension of the work-from-home order to all State Public Servants on Grade Levels 14 and below from Monday, 18th January 2021, to Monday, 1st February 2021, to curtail the spread of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“He urged all public servants to stay safe and ensure continued observance of all COVID-19 protocols for physical distancing, use of face masks, regular washing of hands with soap and running water as well as the use of hand sanitisers.”

Muri-Okunola said the weekly duty rosters should be maintained for effective service delivery by ministries, departments and agencies of the state government.

This development comes a few days after Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) shut down its campus after some students and officials tested positive for COVID-19.

Nigeria is witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases with Lagos being the worst-hit.

With nearly 2,000 cases on Friday, Nigeria hit a new record on its daily count of coronavirus infections.

A total of 1,867 new cases were confirmed in 23 states and the federal capital territory, according to the update by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for January 15, 2021.

The new figure is the country’s highest number of new positive samples confirmed within a 24-hour period.

Nigeria has a total of over 107,000 cases but more than 84,000 patients have been discharged.