By Benjamin Omoike, Lagos
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday said his administration will ensure safety of whistleblowers in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the state.
The governor, who is the Chief Incident Commander of COVID-19 in the state, stated this while giving update, ninth in the series on the management of the highly deadly disease in the state, saying the services of whistleblowers became necessary to unravel the activities of those flouting directives with reckless abandon, in the fight against the disease in the state.
Sanwo-Olu said the state government also yesterday discharged 49 patients from its infectious disease facilities in the state, bringing total number of patients discharged so far in the state to one hundred and forty three.
He said, ‘’Whistleblowers are encouraged to report companies which flout these directives. Our whistleblower channels will be duly communicated to the public. Whistleblowers are guaranteed full protection; their identities will be kept strictly confidential.’’
Harping on the gains recorded so far in the state, he added that, ‘’One Hundred and Forty-Three (143) persons have been treated and discharged, and I am pleased to announce that today alone, we are discharging 49 people, of whom there are 48 Nigerians and one Foreigner – a Greek national. Of these there are 28 females and 21 males. Sadly, we have lost 19 people, and we currently have 682 active cases.
‘’I have been on the phone with our medical personnel who contracted the Coronavirus; I spoke with all of them earlier today; and I am pleased to say that they are all doing very well and in very high spirits. We are all looking forward to their discharge very soon.
‘’Our medical workers will continue to be top priority for us at this time, and we will continue to make available all the resources they require, in terms of Hazard Allowances, Covid Allowances, Personal Protective Equipment, psycho-social support, and others.
‘’We are continuing our active case finding in communities across Lagos State. So far, we have covered over 1.5million households; and we are also continuing to scale-up our Isolation and Treatment capacity. The Isolation Center at Gbagada opens tomorrow, and we are currently working on building three additional Isolation Centers in the state.’’
The governor said he will today constitute a committee on gradual easing of COVID-19 lockdown
‘’Tomorrow, Thursday April 30, I will inaugurate a Committee comprising representatives of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Private Transport Operators, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget.
‘’This Committee will be charged with the responsibility of communicating, to their members, this framework I have outlined above, on the controlled easing of the Lockdown, so that we all fully understand what is expected from us. We are mindful of the fact that the success of the implementation will be determined by how well it is communicated to all the Stakeholders, and this Committee will play a critical role in this regard.’’
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