By Dele Moses, Ilorin
Kwara State Government has partially relaxed the lockdown it imposed on the state to curtail spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The government which said the decision was in line with the national policy of gradual reopening of the economy, however, said that schools were not yet to resume while religious and sporting gathering also remain banned.
The state’s Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Technical Committee on COVID-19, told a news briefing in Ilorin that markets and businesses would now open everyday but in 60 per cent capacity of their pre-COVID 19 operations while commercial transporters except motorcyclists would be permitted to work within the state at varied capacity.
He said taxis would carry just three passengers per trip, tricyclists, two while commercial buses are to carry 50 per cent of their capacity.
Alabi said schools, hotels, beer parlours and night clubs remain shut while restaurants are to serve takeaways only. He explained that the ban on sport gatherings, religious and non-religious gatherings, concerts and other social parties remain in force.
The Deputy Governor who said that the state was not yet free of the COVID-19 as it just recorded three more cases disclosed that thousands of face masks produced within the state would be distributed among the residents.
He stated: “In line with the Federal Government’s guidelines to gradually open up the economy, His Excellency the Governor has directed the Kwara State Technical Committee to come up with modalities on how to gradually return to normalcy from Monday May 4, 2020, while ensuring we respect all safety protocols.
“We want to make it abundantly clear that we are caught between two extremes as we are definitely not out of the wood. We are caught on the one hand by the need to protect people’s lives in compliance with our oath of office and on the other by the need to not totally cripple the economy.
“Dear Kwarans, we are not out of the wood. Just today, Kwara has recorded three more new cases of COVID-19. That takes us to 14 confirmed cases in Kwara. Of these, 12 are active as we had earlier discharged two. All our cases are stable and in the best spirits.
“We want to emphasise that one of the three new cases was imported while the remaining two are contacts of our earlier cases. Aggressive contact tracing has since begun. This incident of another imported case explains why we are now deploying military personnel to man our borders while police and other security agencies maintain their hold internally.
“We are proud to say that our strategy to prevent community dissemination is working so far. We thank all our frontline workers for this great feat. We urge them to keep the good work. In recognition of their hard work and sacrifice, His Excellency the Governor has approved special allowances for all the healthcare workers attending to our COVID-19 cases in Kwara State.
“In preparation for the gradual easing of lockdown, the government had earlier directed the production of 500,000 face masks which have started coming in in bits. At the moment, we have commenced mass distribution of over 40,000 face masks and sanitisers to markets, bus parks and transporters, hospitals, and elsewhere.
“We will continue to distribute as we receive more masks in the next few days or weeks. We call on private individuals and corporate organisations to also produce masks. Alabi explained that the state civil servants would continue to work from home except those on essential services or granted special permission .”