The Lagos state government has charged religious centers not to compromise on the ”No face mask, No entry” guideline in order to curb the spread of coronavirus disease in the state.
Mr Lanre Mojola, Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC), gave the charge during a news briefing on Friday at Ikeja.
Mojola said that any worship center that failed to observe the ”No face mask, No entry” and other guidelines would be shut.
He said that officials of the COVID-19 Compliance Taskforce would be deployed to strictly enforce all the guidelines earlier announced by Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
It would be recalled that the governor had on Thursday, June 4, announced the reopening of religious centers in Lagos, from June 19 for mosques and June 21 for churches, with an attendance of 40 percent capacity or not more than 500 worshipers.
Reiterating the state’s recent guideline on religious gathering, the DG said that while religious centers had been directed to open in two weeks’ time, their worship services should be restricted to not more than once a week, as mid-week and other programmes remained suspended.
He urged that worshippers should abide by the issued safety guidelines which included: physical distancing; regular disinfection; temperature check; wearing of face mask; and having more than one service.
According to him, attendees to worship centers should be above 15 and not above 65 years of age.
Moyola encouraged that outdoor services be preferred to indoor services, and people running temperature higher than 37.5 should be restricted from entering into the venue.
Other safety measures include avoiding handshakes; ensuring 2-meters distancing; stationary collections or electronic cash transfer for the offering; effectively controlled traffic for exiting worship venues; as well as guarding against loitering around the worship arena.
He said that worship centers should nominate representatives to serve as an interface in liaising with the LSSC.
”We will continue to enforce the guidelines; we will continue to sensitize our citizenry so that we can collectively fight this virus,” the DG said.
