We’ll Restart Our Economy’Sanwo-olu
Lagos has been the most affected and the most active of all in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Sanwo-olu has been relentless about the fight, though the states have the highest fatality rate cases as well the highest index cases, but they also have been discharging recovered patients
The state has been on a lockdown despite being the most visited, the epic centre of entertainment and the more clogged state when it comes to traffic as people spends most of their times in traffics after long hours in the office.
Lagos now is faced with the pandemic like never seen in other states though Kano seem to be the next epic centre of the virus as they are recording high increase of infected persons. This lock down has led to greater economic breakdown for not just the state but for the entire country.
Sanw-olu have been on a steady giving of palliatives to households in large quantities and its concentration on fighting the pandemic cannot be overlooked, the governor and its team are working even in odd hours to ensure the state becomes free of the pandemic.
Currently no state in Nigeria is fully opened for business neither is interstate business allowed for anyone nor any reason and a lot of businesses are losing it, because they were never prepared for such time as even the federal government didn’t prepare neither did they foresee such.
The federal government played its own role in giving palliatives and funding support to businesses and now the Lagos state government says it has set the process of re-opening its economy in motion, with the rollout of “Register-to-Open” guidelines. The government also said it will give incentives to businesses that employ large number of people.
The state government said, doing this will ensure that jobs are not lost. Meanwhile, Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said at a webinar organised by First Securities Discount House (FSDH) Group, with the theme: “A Global Pandemic: Local Realities and Peculiarities – A View from the Frontlines”.
Sanwo-olu said that the state government was daily battling the reality of balancing reactivation of economic activities and the continuation of the state’s response to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The state governor said that the battle to stop the ravaging virus in Lagos had subjected the state to a delicate situation. He said it was a situation of having to manage hunger resulting from weeks of slowdown in economic activities and also the movement of consumer goods to keep the economy afloat.
Sanwo-Olu said that the four-page Register-to-Open guidelines were the major part of the measures initiated to achieve phased re-opening of the state economy. Lagos state government on Thursday, May 21, disclosed that it has spent N640 million on COVID-19 tests since the inception of the testing.
The state commissioner for health Akin Abayomi, made the disclosure when giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in Lagos. He said the state spends between N40,000 and N50,000 per test and has tested 16,000 people so far.
The commissioner pointed out that the COVID-19 tests performed in Lagos is higher than every other state in Nigeria.
He also said the state government is providing COVID-19 tests free of charge.
Akin noted that Lagos residents who have suspected symptoms of COVID-19 can get tested at any of the four laboratories that carry out tests for the virus.
By: Ayooluwa Joshua