COVID-19: ‘The fight is in your hands,’ El-Rufai tells Kaduna people

Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said that after the opening up of Kaduna State from lockdown, the next step of staying safe from COVID-19 is strictly in the hands of each individual. El-Rufai pleaded with the people to commit to taking personal responsibility in the fight against the spread of coronavirus, adding that the gains of […]

Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said that after the opening up of Kaduna State from lockdown, the next step of staying safe from COVID-19 is strictly in the hands of each individual.

El-Rufai pleaded with the people to commit to taking personal responsibility in the fight against the spread of coronavirus, adding that the gains of the lockdown should not be rolled back by not adhering to the COVID-19 prevention protocol.

The governor who made the plea in a broadcast last Tuesday, paid tribute to the good people of Kaduna State for their immense sacrifices in the last two and half months as containment measures against Covid-19 were implemented.

‘’Let us honour the sacrifices that have been made to ensure that this opening up supports the pursuit of livelihoods without risking widespread infection, illnesses and death. You have done it for more than ten weeks under partial lockdown. Let us show that we can stay safe in relaxed conditions,’’ he added.

El-Rufai appealed to people who are 50 years and above, to restrict their movements, in spite of the fact that restriction of movement has been lifted in the Kaduna State.

‘’As we open up, we advise older people to stay home as much as possible, and avoid condolence visits and attending congregational prayers. Older people above 50 years should avoid receiving visitors’’

‘’If you must receive, please wear a facemask and stay two meters apart from your visitors. Younger people that may be infected but showing no signs of the disease can easily infect older people,’’ he counselled.

While urging citizens to take responsibility and comply with these measures, he further warned that ‘’this relaxation will be reversed in the event of a spike in Covid-19 infections or unsatisfactory compliance levels with the conditions, and total quarantine re-imposed to preserve health and protect lives.’’

The governor said that ‘’businesses can reopen, subject to the provision of thermo-meters for temperature checks, sanitizers or hand washing equipment and physical distancing measures within all facilities. Working hours will be 9am to 3pm daily.’’

He further said that ‘’church services are allowed only on Sundays and Mosques are allowed to conduct only Friday Jumma’at services, for the time being, subject to compliance with the safety stipulations above.’’

El-Rufai maintained that transport operators must reduce capacity to not more than two passengers per row and not more than 50% of capacity.

The governor said that the ban on intra-state travel has been lifted but government officials will continue to control state boundaries to reduce unauthorised interstate travel.
‘’Within the state, security checkpoints will be allowed only to enforce compliance with the night time curfew. During the day, any violations of the adjusted Quarantine Order like failure to wear facemasks etc. will be enforced by Operation Yaki, KASTLEA, the Vigilance Service and our Mobile Courts,’’ he said.

According to him, ‘’supermarkets and providers of personal services such as hair dressing and barbing salons can reopen; hotels can fully open, but with their restaurants and bars offering only room service.’’

The governor warned that restaurants may all reopen after decontamination, but are still restricted to takeaway services, adding that ‘’public servants will be summoned back to work in phases to be announced by the Head of Service.’’

El-Rufai however said that schools and markets will remain closed because at this stage of Covid-19 containment, it is still considered unsafe for markets and schools to reopen.

He promised that government will ‘’keep engaging with the relevant stakeholders on the matter, to determine the appropriate timing and conditions precedent.’’

The governor warned that ‘’any facility or sector that generally violates the guidelines will be closed down under the Quarantine Order No.2 of June 2020.‘’