Lagos Shuts Schools as Coronavirus Spreads

• Lagos Shuts Schools as Coronavirus Spreads

Lagos State Government on Thursday announced the closure of all public and private schools in the state from Monday 23rd March 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Lagos state’s commissioner of health had announced five additional cases of the virus on Wednesday to take the total infected people in the country to almost 10 with 90 percent of the reported cases coming from Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre.

In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo, the decision was to prevent children and their teachers from the virus as the number of infected people in the state rises.

“It is important for parents to ensure that their children practice ‘social distancing’ while at home, wash their hands regularly or use hand sanitisers and observe high standards of personal hygiene. Children should be encouraged to remain at home.

“The closure is not intended to create panic but to arrest the spread of the disease, which has become a global threat,” the statement said.

She said that “the Incident Command Centre, headed by the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu would continue to trace all contacts of the identified cases and encourage anyone who has information about suspected cases to report to the nearest hospital or call the emergency telephone numbers 08023169485, 08033565529, 08052817243 and 08023401214.”