COVID-19: We May Impose Complete Shutdown on the State Except… – Bauchi State Govt. Says

BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – As a means of avoiding the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bauchi State Government has said that it may be forced to impose a total lockdown of the state unless the people of the state adhere strictly to all the preventive measures put in place by the government. 

The State Deputy Governor, Senator Baba Tela, who gave the hint on Monday while briefing news men at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, said this is as a result of the fact that the people of the state have refused to come to terms with the reality of the existence of the pandemic in the state. 

Tela, who did not hide his concern over the development said; “It is sad that the people of the state are not observing the social distancing practice, they are not washing their hands, they are not using hand sanitizers and they are not abiding by the preventive measures put in place by the government”. 

The deputy governor further said that the reality of the existence of the pandemic has not downed on the people of Bauchi State adding that; “other states that do not have the number of cases we have here, have locked down their states totally in order to check the spread of the infection, Katsina, Jigawa, Plateau, Gombe are examples”. 

Tela, who is also the Chairman of the State Rapid Response Taskforce lamented the situation where people still live in denial of the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said; “Imagine people posting in the social media that the infection is sickness of the wealthy and other insinuations, this is unacceptable to government”. 

“After he was properly briefed on the activities of the Taskforce, the Governor summoned an emergency stakeholders meeting for tomorrow to discuss the present situation and thereafter take a decisive action to ensure that the information did not go beyond what it is now. 

“Yes, we did not totally lockdown the state because we did not make adequate provision for palliative measures, we allowed the people to look for what to eat and abide by the proactive measures put in place by government. That does not mean we are weak. We are ready to do everything possible to safeguard the health of the people of Bauchi State.”

Tela explained that the meeting will be attended by traditional rulers, community leaders, religious leaders made up of Clergy, Imams and other opinion leaders in the state, adding that “at the end of the meeting, we will know where we are headed”. 

The deputy governor confirmed the new active positive case discovered in the state on Sunday, saying that the index case has been isolated and receiving treatment.