COVID-19 : NUJ urges 14 days lockdown

The Ondo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), has urged the Ondo State government to enforce lockdown for seven or 14 days to curtail further spread of Coronavirus in the state.

The union made the call in a statement signed by the Chairman, Mr Adetona Aderoboye, and the General Secretary, Mr Leke Adegbite, on Friday in Akure.

The union expressed concern over the unprecedented spike of confirmed cases of the deadly virus in the state in the last three weeks.

It appealed to striking doctors and the state government to as a matter of urgency reach a compromise on disputed matters to facilitate effective treatment of Covid-19 patients.

It called for proper enforcement of the 7pm to 7am curfew as well as penalties for violation of precautionary measures at all markets, hotels and relaxation centres in the state.

“The union also observes that in spite of the state government’s commendable distribution of nose masks to reasonable number of people in the state, the compulsory use of same was unfortunately not enforced at public places.

“The Union, therefore, calls on the state government to consider the option of declaring a Seven-day or 14-day lockdown to urgently stop the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic at a disturbing rate.

“This measure will enable the government to carry out effective contacts tracing and deploy more combative efforts both from the state and federal governments,” the statement read in parts.

The union condoled with the state government and the families of the late commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro, who died on Thursday due to suspected complications from Covid-19.

It prayed for quick recovery of Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the state, who tested positive to Covid-19 on Monday.