COVID-19: Gov. Buni orders forceful quarantine of non-compliant suspects

Wed, Mar 25, 2020

By publisher

4 MIN READ

YOBE State Governor, Hon. Mai Mala Buni has given a matching order that those who show symptoms of the Coronavirus and refused to isolate and be tested will be forcefully quarantine and tested.

The Secretary of the 22 man State Taskforce Committee on COVID 19 in the State who is also the Hon. Commissioner for Information, Abdullahi Bego said His Excellency Gov. Mai Mala Buni has given the Committee express powers to ensure that people comply to the basic protocol of preventing the spread of the virus, just as government is also doing her mandate to give political support and leadership in the wake of the virus.

The Commissioner also announced that all civil servants from grade levels 12 downwards are barred from coming to office but rather work from house.

Social distancing and mass gatherings are also discouraged according to the Commissioner.

He said; “Effective immediately, all state government employees from Grade level 12 downward should work from home. Except Water Supply and Sanitation, Healthcare sectors, State Emergency Management Agency and Fire Service workers,” Bego informed.

As part of measures to effectively pass the message to the general public, the information commissioner, Mr. Abdullahi Bego in a statement which he personally signed listed all the resolutions of the maiden meeting which was held on Wednesday after their inauguration in Damaturu.

The statement reads in part;

“After its meeting today, the committee adopted the following measures and recommendations for application throughout the state:

1. All government workers from Grade Levels 12 and below should stay at and work from home, except those on essential services, including healthcare, water supply, SEMA, media, and fire service.
2. People throughout the state are strongly advised to practice social distancing and observe good personal hygiene, especially regular hand washing with soap water for at least 20 seconds each time. They are also advised to practice safe respiratory etiquette such as the use of handkerchief and tissue paper when coughing or sneezing.
3. Mass social and political gatherings, including for weddings and naming ceremonies, should be avoided or minimised significantly.
4. People coming from parts of the country with confirmed cases of COVID-19 should self-isolate for at least 14 days upon arrival in the state.
5. Places of worship, markets, motor parks, etc should provide hand washing points for people who may come into those places.
6. The Yobe State Government has also directed all public and private schools, including Islamiyya schools, to close down for a month from 26th March 2020 to 26th April 2020.
7. The Honourable Commissioner of Commerce and that of Transport and Energy would meet separately with market leaders and the Union of Road and Transport Workers and KEKE NAPEP riders to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak and what their members need to do to ensure people across the state stay safe.
8. The Honourable Commissioner of Religious Affairs would also meet with religious leaders to discuss what measures they need to take to enlighten their congregations about the coronavirus disease and to pray to Almighty Allah (SWT) for divine intervention.
9. The State Radio and Television services and other media would continue to disseminate news, information and interviews on the COVID-19 pandemic in order to keep people informed and enlightened about the disease.
10. The public would be updated regularly on these and other measures that state government takes or may take going forward, as we grapple with this unprecedented healthcare challenge.
11. The Yobe State Government, however, urges the public not to panic and to use these emergency numbers when the need arises: 08131834764 and 07041116027.

The Nation reports that the State Taskforce of COVID 19 was inaugurated yesterday by His Excellency, Gov Mai Mala Buni with his Deputy IdI Barde Gubana who represented his boss.

The committee is comprised of the Honourable Commissioners of Health and Human Services, Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Commerce, Women affairs, Transport and Energy, Environment, Youth and Sports, and Religious Affairs as well as the Chairman of the State Council of Chiefs, State Commissioner of Police, State Director of the Department of State Services and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. The State House of Assembly, Yobe State University Teaching Hospital, State Primary Healthcare Management Board, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), World Health Organisation (WHO), and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), amongst others, are also represented on the committee.

The Hon. Commissioner for Information, Home Affairs and Culture, Abullahi Bego will serve as the secretary of the committee, while his Health counterpart Dr. Mohammed Lawan Gana is the Co-chair of the committee. – The Nation

– Mar. 25, 2020 @ 12:25 GMT |