At an inter-ministerial press briefing, officials of the Lagos State Government explained that despite the coronavirus pandemic, governance continues in the state, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF
Whatever it takes and no matter how long it lasts, the fight against coronavirus is going to end on a victory note. That was the assurance from an inter-ministerial media briefing on COVID-19 at JJT Park, Alausa, where members of the Lagos State cabinet updated the public about what the state is doing to contain the pandemic.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy Gbenga Omotoso said the inter-ministerial briefing was designed to update residents on the efforts of the various ministries of government in the fight against the spread of the disease.
“It is meant to assure Lagosians that despite the threat posed by the pandemic, the people saddled with the task of running the affairs of the state have not stopped working.
Besides reassuring Lagosians that the state is on top of this situation, it is also an opportunity to let the public know of the state government’s programmes, now and after we must have seen the back of the pandemic,” he said.
Since the country recorded its index case in February when an Italian man tested positive for coronavirus, Lagos has remained Nigeria’s epic-centre in the fight against the global pandemic.
Of the country’s 328 cases (as at Monday morning), Lagos has 176 cases. But Commissioner for Health Prof Akin Abayomi assured residents that there is no need to panic, stressing that everything suggests that the strategies employed in the fight against the spread of the disease in the state are working.
He emphasised that though he is the one regularly briefing the press on the state’s coronavirus containment activities, many officials are equally busy working at the background to ensure that the virus does not snowball into an unmanageable crisis.
Having been preparing for infectious disease outbreaks since the Ebola outbreak about five years, Lagos has leveraged on its experience to upgrade its medical facilities and train its medical personnel, he said.
“Since five years ago, we knew an incident such as this would happen. The only thing is that we didn’t know when. The Ebola incident, then, taught us some lessons, since it revealed our areas of strength and those areas that needed to be strengthened.
That was why we had already instituted the Incident Command Structure, concerning the pandemic, even before the first case was recorded in Lagos,” he said.
On the management of COVID-19 corpses, Abayomi said that officials from the Ministries of Health and Environment had been trained to specially prepare such bodies before handing them over to their families for burial.
This is to ensure that “the family members were not at risk of being infected by their loved ones. Even when people die of Coronavirus, it doesn’t mean that the virus has died. The corpse is still infectious,” the commissioner said.
While clarifying on the use of face masks, Abayomi explained that “only sealed N95 masks, which covers the entire face and filters air-breathing, could protect (the wearer) from contracting coronavirus. If you wear ordinary masks or anything else, they’re not protecting you from COVID-19.”
In terms of how many bed spaces are available in the state in case infection cases soar, Abayomi said available facilities can take care of emerging scenarios, stressing that the state is working hard to upgrade and expand existing facilities and build new ones.
He disclosed that there are three isolation centres in Lagos: located in Yaba, Onikan and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Of these, LUTH alone has a 280-bed capacity, 100 of which are already occupied by COVID-19 patients.
In the next few days, two new isolation centres (with about 150 beds) would be ready at Gbagada General Hospital and another one in Victoria Island, he said.
With these measures in place, Abayomi assured residents that the state government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is committed to ensuring that the deadly virus is contained as quickly as possible so that normal activities can be restored.
How disinfection of public places has helped to reduce COVID-19 cases
How to keep Lagos clean during the fight against coronavirus remains a priority of the table of Governor Sanwo-Olu. This was disclosed by Commissioner for the Environment Tunji Bello, who said all agencies under the purview of his ministry, especially Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), are mobilised to evacuate of waste across the state during the lockdown duration.
Mosques, churches, motor parks, market places and other public spaces were fumigated to complement efforts of health workers, he said. Besides the fumigation exercise being undertaken across local governments and some bus stops in the state, Bello added that plans are in place for massive disinfection of all the highways across the State.
This will include cleaning of all drainage channels in the state. “We ensured that PSP operators go around Lagos to prevent the accumulation of waste within the metropolis during the lockdown and ensure the environment is kept clean and healthy,” Bello said.
The disinfection exercise, according to Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs Dr. Wale Ahmed has further helped in reducing the spread of the disease. “If the exercise saves just one life, it is worth it and l believe it has done much more,” he said.
He commended Governor Sanwo-Olu for the provision of 200 motorised-disinfection machines, personal protective equipment as well as needed chemicals to all the LGAs and Development Council Areas for the disinfection exercise.
Ahmed disclosed that when the index COVID-19 case was discovered in the state, the Governor immediately met some critical stakeholders at the grassroots, which included council chairmen and leaders of community development associations, among others, as part of efforts to contain the situation from going out of control.
He said all the various Councils, through their environmental health departments, have also complimented the state government’s efforts by deploying their disinfection machines, in addition to the 200 machines provided to all the 57 LG/LCDAs by the state.
“Mr. Governor called the meeting of stakeholders, including Chairmen of Local Councils, Ministry of Health and Members of the Community Development Advisory Committee to inform them about the index case, sensitise them on how to curtail the spread as well as raise awareness level about the virus,” Ahmed stated.
E-learning to the rescue
Explaining how the state has responded to the coronavirus crisis, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, said Lagos was faced with the situation of allowing children to forget all they have been taught in school after staying at home for long without any meaningful academic learning taking place.
Therefore, to cater for primary and secondary school students who are likely to be among the worst hit by the effects of the lockdown directive, she said Lagos has embarked on virtual learning using activities broadcast stations to reach students statewide.
To this effect, the Commissioner noted that the state has come up with radio education programmes to help students to continue to learn during the holiday occasioned by the pandemic.
Adefisayo said further that in partnership with First Bank Plc, the state would roll out one million educational devices to support students learning at home pending the resumption of schools.
Cushioning the pandemic’s effect on the state economy
Speaking about measures needed to cushion the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the state economy, Commissioner for Budget and Planning Sam Egube said the state government is still engaging with various stakeholders to fashion out the best line of action to take, including budget re-direction.
After commending Governor Sanwo-Olu for showing leadership in implementing his economic strategies, Egube admitted that the pandemic has put a strain on economic activities in the state.
The state will embark on activities that can help the economy to come back into full swing post-pandemic, he assured.
Commissioner for Finance Dr. Rabiu Olowo said the national economy felt the impact of the twin-shock occasioned by the falling prices of oil in the international market and freezing of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Admitting that the state revenue has been greatly affected by under-performance of businesses occasioned by the lockdown, he said it would be premature to evaluate the state’s loss at present.
The Finance Commissioner also disclosed that the state has distributed all donations it received from the private sector and federal government transparently, stressing that all funds received in support of the fight against the pandemic will be fully accounted for.
Olowo disclosed that Lagos has granted three months moratorium on accrued principal and interest payment on loans granted to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Entrepreneurs by Lagos State Employment Trust Funds (LSETF).
“Those who have loans currently running with the LSETF have been given three months moratorium by the State Government for principals and interests to ensure that these small businesses that generated jobs are not hit by the crisis. We will also be raising the capacity of LSETF to support the SMEs with capital that will act as a shock absorber and give necessary incentives to enable them to mitigate the impacts. This plan is for a period after the battle would have been won against COVID-19,” Olowo said.
Targeting 200,000 households in palliative programme
Commissioner for Agriculture Gbolahan Lawal explained that the introduction of stimulus food relief programme for the vulnerable people in the state has ensured that the poor and vulnerable are catered for.
No fewer than 200,000 households are targeted to benefit from the palliative measure in the first tranche, he said. Dismissing misinformation about the scheme, Lawal explained that the state has engaged the right people who understand the terrains to distribute the food items.
He promised that the second phase of the food scheme, which took off last week, would reach aged people who are registered with LASRRA, stressing that all lapses observed in the first phase had been addressed.
This has also created direct jobs for 600 individuals employed in centres where the relief package items are produced, as Lawal asserted that the economies of other states have benefitted because farmers in such states supplied food items being packaged for distribution to the aged, vulnerable and physically-challenged in Lagos.