Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State on Monday night extended the lockdown in the state till May 3.
The residents of the state which had been under four weeks’ lockdown which was billed to expire on 11.59pm on Monday would now stay at home for an additional six days before the review.
Fayemi, in a statewide broadcast in Ekiti State shortly after the President’s nationwide address, said,
“The current lockdown directive which ends today (Monday) is hereby extended for another six days until 23:59 hours on Sunday May 3rd 2020. All conditions and exemptions remain in force during the extension”.
The governor said,
“After careful deliberation with the Task Force on the impact and gains of the last four weeks, and in view of the sudden spike in our confirmed cases from a total of four to eight with five active cases at the weekend, we cannot totally lift the lockdown without endangering Ekiti residents.
For the review, he said,
“There shall now be a 6pm to 6am curfew every day of the week until further notice. No movement of vehicle or human traffic whatsoever allowed except for verified medical emergencies” during the curfew.
According to him, the fresh orders starting from Monday, May 4 will include limited resumption whereby business activities including intra-city commercial transportation/okada operation will resume for only three days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) from 7am to 4 pm only, to allow the self-employed earn some income to feed their families.
Fayemi also announced compulsory use of face masks in the state, saying,
“Everyone must wear a face mask when going out of the home so you don’t spread the virus to others. Residents are advised to make their own masks. If you cannot wear a face mask, stay at home as you may be arrested and prosecuted for willfully endangering public health”.
He added,
“Citizens must however observe social distancing, hand washing and wearing of masks at all times. Businesses must provide liquid soap and running water for hand washing while supermarkets should not have more than 10 persons at any time in their store. Businesses that do not comply will be shut down for 6 months.
“Restriction of movement will be enforced on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Only essential services including food, medical, beverages, petroleum, banks, agriculture, construction, select media and telecommunications are exempted from the restriction. Violators will be prosecuted and may be fined or imprisoned”.
He said all large gatherings including religious, social, political and educational gathering remained banned in the state until the pandemic was brought under control, saying,
“Any facility that violates this directive may be shut down for not less than 12 months.
He said all travels from and into Ekiti State remained banned as all boundaries of Ekiti State will be on lockdown 24 hours daily except for those on essential services.
Fayemi said that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum under his leadership, jointly agreed to coordinate the state governments’ response to COVID-19 along with five general guidelines including a lockdown of all interstate boundaries except for essential movements; and aviation and airports lockdown.
Others, he said, included relax internal movements within the states based on each state’s assessment of their individual situation; enforcement of the ban on large gatherings including religious, social, educational and political events; and mandate and enforce the compulsory wearing of face masks if there is a need to go out.
