Hours after the Federal Government lifted the two months ban on religious gatherings imposed to check the spread of Coronavirus pandemic otherwise referred to as COVID-19 in the country, the guidelines for the reopening of churches and mosques were released on Tuesday.
Rolling out the guidelines at the resumed daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in Abuja on Tuesday, the PTF National Coordinator, Sani Aliyu, said that the duration for each church service must not be more than one hour.
Aliyu, who disclosed that churches are to open from 5am and close by 8pm, added that Friday mosque prayers must also not exceed one hour.
“For churches, each service should be for a maximum of an hour with an interval of thirty minutes in between services to allow time for disinfection.
“Mosques may open 15 minutes before and ten minutes after prayers. The total time for Friday prayers should not exceed an hour.
“Islamiya schools, Sunday schools, night vigils, and children classes are to remain suspended.
“Worshippers should be encouraged to sign up for preferred worship and make the option of virtual service an option.
“There should be no gathering either or after worship and business outlets within the premises should remain closed,” he revealed.
Earlier, the Secretary to the government of the Federation and PTF chairman, Boss Mustapha, advised governors to take responsibility, shape and drive the process.
“I wish to re-emphasize that State Governments now have the responsibility to shape and drive the process.
“It must also be understood that every individual has a stake and a role to play. We must take responsibility. We must be accountable to self and community on our actions. We must adhere to the guidelines issued.
“As we have always maintained, the fight against this pandemic is not a joke and because the science, data and experiences that drive our National Response are constantly evolving, we urge all citizens to religiously implement applicable guidelines at specific phases of the battle”, he said.
For his part, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, said that about 812 health workers have contracted COVID-19.
According to Ihekweazu, 29 of the infected health workers are officials are of the NCDC.
“We have had 812 health workers infected. They are not just numbers. Twenty-nine of this work with NCDC. They are people I know. Eight of them right now are in Idu treatment centre. They are people and they matter.
“Crossing that 10,000 mark was quite a significant event. Every night we work to bring out those numbers, sometimes numbers begin to feel like what they are; you forget that there are people behind each number. So, it is very important for us to remember that these are people. At NCDC, we engage with these people every day.
“At the moment 75 per cent of people have unknown sources of their illness. It means community transmission is happening. This is normal of a respiratory virus which 80 per cent of people are asymptomatic.
“We now have the third-highest number of confirmed cases in the continent, after South Africa and Egypt. We’ve increased our testing capacity. We have now tested over 65,000 samples. 60 per cent of our cases are in 20 local government areas”, he said.
Meanwhile, Lagos, Kaduna and Oyo states government, on Tuesday, insisted that worship centres in their states remain shut for now.
Disclosing tne position of the Lagos State Govrnment on the sideline of the 2020 Ministerial Press Briefing commemorating the first year in office of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, said that churches and mosques in the state might not be reopened soon for worshippers.
According to the Commissioner, though the Federal Government has allowed religious houses to reopen, yet, each state government has the right to decide what works best for them.
Elegushi said that the reopening of the worship centres was not possible soon, as the state was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said several meetings had been held by the state government with religious leaders in the state, but none of the leaders gave assurances that they would be able to comply with the guidelines provided by the state government, such as maintaining the recommended number of worshippers, social distancing and the rest.
“Before pronouncement by the Federal Government, we have been having continuous meetings with religion leaders on the possibility of reopening religious houses. At the meetings, the possibility of reopening religious houses was put off by the leaders. They said they cannot take responsibility of having 50 worshippers.
“One of the Imams said if he’s leading prayers, he cannot be sure, or guarantee the number of people that will be at his back joining in the prayers, if they will be more than 20. So they ruled out totally the possibility of religious houses until they have a clear coast,” the Commissioner said.
He added: “Though the Federal Government mentioned reopening, but it did not rule out states deciding what is good for them. All states would look at possibility in their respective states. Lagos State is having more figures, which definitely will speak to our decision. However, the Incident Commander, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will give further directives.”
On its part, the Kaduna State government, on Tuesday, said it has not reopened markets or places of worship.
Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, the Special Adviser to the Govenor on Media and Communication, stated this in a statement issued in Kaduna.
Adekeye said that government has started engaging some business and religious leaders on how to ensure safe re-opening of markets and places of worship, saying that this had not been concluded.
“Until these consultations result in a formal announcement authorising businesses, markets and places of worship to reopen, it will be a violation of subsisting quarantine orders to reopen any unauthorised facility or to conduct congregational worship of any sort,” he said.
Adekeye said that the decision to close places of worship in the state was taken and enforced in March by government, as part of the proclamation of the quarantine orders in the state.
“Kaduna State is not one of the two states and the Federal Capital Territory where the Federal Government imposed lockdown.
“The steps taken to ease such federally-imposed lockdowns in the concerned places should not be construed as the Federal Government relaxing in all states, conditions that it did not impose in the first place.
“Kaduna State has its own well-articulated roadmap for reopening and this was published last week as a public document for the views and inputs of the citizens of the state.
“That is why when it extended the quarantine orders by two weeks on May 26, it also announced steps to ease some of the restrictions.
“These included increasing lockdown-free days to three and allowing approved businesses and facilities to open on those three days,” he said.
According to him, the quarantine extension, announced by the Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe on May 26, had made clear that schools, places of worship and markets would remain closed under the adjusted orders.
He said that relevant government officials and agencies would be engaging stakeholders, as might be identified from time to time, to discuss the conditions and circumstances for a safe reopening of these sectors.
“Government also maintains the prohibition of interstate and intercity travels.
“Government officials and mobile courts will continue to enforce this ban to prevent people from spreading the virus through non-essential movements.
“In addition, the nighttime curfew that has been enforced across the state still remains, from 6 pm to 6 am,” the governor’s spokesperson said.
He further reminded the residents that the partial easing of restrictions was being undertaken to ensure that COVID-19 prevention efforts could continue side-by-side with the pursuit of livelihoods.
“It has been a most difficult period for the citizens, with many inconveniences amid the danger of COVID-19, but they are aware that the state has not experienced hundreds of unexplained deaths.
“COVID-19 infections continue to rise due partly to intensive testing, tracing and treatment by our health personnel and largely to the failure of some persons to comply fully with the imposed quarantine restrictions.
“All the sacrifices made by residents of the state demand that the easing of the lockdown be done safely and responsibly.
“Public safety and the protection of human lives remain the sole motivation for the government’s COVID-19 response,” he said.
Adekeye, therefore, appealed to the residents to be patient and collaborate with government to implement a careful, safe and responsible re-opening of the state.
The Oyo State Government, also on Tuesday, said it is yet to relax the ban on religious activities and the curfew imposed as a result of the pandemic.
A statement issued in Ibadan, on Tuesday, by Mr Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, confirmed that the COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by the governor, made its position public after a two-hour online meeting on Tuesday evening.
Adisa said the taskforce was still evaluating the situation in the state and would not be able to follow the decision by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, which relaxed the ban on religious gathering and the curfew.
He explained that the position was informed by the ongoing risk, situation analysis being undertaken by a team of experts.
“The Oyo State COVID-19 Taskforce wishes to alert the public that the ban on religious gathering remains in force in the state.
”The 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew earlier imposed in the state as a result of the ravaging pandemic, will also remain in force until further notice.
“This is because the taskforce is awaiting a risk, situation analysis report by a team of experts, earlier commissioned to do so.
“The report is expected at the end of the week and it is only after the report has been analysed by the taskforce that it can be in a position to make further clarifications,” he said.
He indicated that the Taskforce would always make its decisions in relation to the behavioral patterns of the Coronavirus in its domain, relying on science, logic and data; assuring residents that the state was leaving no stone unturned in curtailing the spread of the virus.
“Meanwhile, the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) of the Taskforce will on Wednesday, commence the community testing for COVID-19, with the aim of determining the behaviour of the virus in the state.
“The exercise, which is scheduled to hold in 10 locations, will kick off in three different sites in Ibadan on Wednesday,” Adisa further said.