TheCable

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, has approved September 21 for reopening of primary and secondary schools in the state.

Schools across the state have been shut since March in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But in a state-wide broadcast on Sunday evening, Fayemi directed the schools to reopen.

He also directed tertiary institutions in the state to open from October 2, subject to each institution’s governing council decision and strict adherence to safety protocols to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The governor said students in SSS II, JSS III and Primary 6 are to resume on September 21, while students in SSS I, JSS II and Primary 5 and 4 are to resume from September 28.

Students in JSS I and Primary 1-3 are to resume on October 19, while pupils in kindergarten and nursery schools are expected to resume on November 2, when more assurances of safety for their age bracket would have been established.

The governor said the decision to open more classes was taken because there has been no spike traceable to students who just finished writing the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The governor, however, expressed concern on flouting of social distancing rules and non-use of face masks, saying enforcement will also be scaled up to ensure compliance with COVID-19 regulations.

“While we have progressively responded to the initial lockdown with gradual relaxation in line with the progress made, we must remain vigilant as we cannot afford to indulge ourselves such that a spike may recur as a result of flagrant disobedience to the established protocol,” he said.\

“We cannot afford to go back into another round of lockdown with its attendant repercussions. This point needs to be emphasized; though, there is a national decline in number of cases, there has been a noticeable upsurge in Ekiti.

“One proof of this is the unpleasant but consistent figures that we have recorded in the last month. As at the time I addressed you on August 5, 2020, there were only 152 confirmed cases in Ekiti.

“Today we have recorded a total of 299 cases which means we recorded 147 new cases within a month. You would recall that the total recorded cases from March to August were 152. This suggests that from August to date, we have had near 100 percent new cases, even while national number has maintained a stable decline.”