COVID-19: Lagos warns of second wave

Lagos State Government has appealed to citizens to strictly adhere to measures against COVID-19.

The government warned that a second wave of the pandemic may cause another lockdown of the economy.

Akin Abayomi, Commissioner for Health, spoke to the media on Tuesday.

Abayomi decried continuous flagrant disregard for protocols, warning that violation of safety guidelines portends danger.

He advised citizens against unnecessary movement and social gatherings, and unnecessary foreign trips.

“The first wave of coronavirus started in December 2019. The first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was recorded in Lagos on February 27. Lagos has since become the epicentre of the outbreak in Nigeria with a record of 21,107 confirmed cases and 212 deaths from the virus till date.

“The containment measures put in place at the time included COVID-19 testing, isolation and treatment, surveillance, total shutdown of the state for about 12 weeks and partial shutdown of social, economic and academic activities for over four months,” NAN quoted him as saying.

The commissioner expressed concern that the use of face masks, social distancing and hand hygiene had reduced.

“The erroneous belief that COVID-19 has been conquered and is no more in Nigeria should be discarded. Based on our data, this assumption is invalid. It creates a false sense of security among the citizens, causing many to abandon the use of face masks and other safety measures,” he said.

Noting that the State had reached its peak, the commissioner said people should not think that the battle is over.