THE Nigerian Government has extended the work-from-home directives for civil servants on Grade 12 and below, as part of the preventive measures targeted against the spread of COVID-19 across the country.
The announcement was made on Monday in a press briefing by the National Incident Manager Mukhtar Mohammed, who also stated that a nation-wide curfew would be introduced by midnight of the same day, which would run from 12AM-4AM, daily.
“All government staff on GL. 12 and below are to continue to stay at home until 11th June, 2021,” he said.
Mohammed encouraged non-government workers to work from home where possible, and to avoid large meetings as well as ensure that offices were well ventilated.
He urged the mobile courts to enforce on-the-spot fines and to close off premises that repeatedly violate rules adding that there would be a mandatory use of face masks and other NPIs.
“Encourage the use of approved Ag-Rapid Diagnostic Tests as recommended in the guidance for the use of approved COVID-19 AG-RDTS in Nigeria (on NCDC website),” he said.
Mohammed hinted that security agents had been saddled with the onus of enforcing all the non-pharmaceutical measures which had been put in place by the government.
The first COVID-19 case was recorded in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, after an Italian citizen had arrived Lagos from Milan, Italy. He was confirmed positive by the virology laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hispital (LUTH)
The ICIR had reported that about 165,000 positive cases had been recorded in Nigeria, since then, and 156,000 persons have been discharged, while 2,065 persons have died of the virus.
The Nigerian government was also reported to have vaccinated over one million people out of about 200 million people living in Nigeria.