Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra state has ordered a total lockdown of the state after it recorded its index case of COVID-19 on Friday.
During a statewide broadcast on Saturday, the governor directed security operatives to arrest violators of the new order and prosecute them appropriately.
He said: “Ndi Anambra, I regret to announce that despite our proactive measures to insulate our dear state from this pandemic, we recorded the first case of Coronavirus in the state Friday.
”The index case came in from Lagos. He has been placed in one of our Protective Care Centres.
“At the same time, we have commenced aggressive Contact Tracing to ensure that everyone he came in contact with is brought into the net for professional handling that will save lives.”
He added: “Ndi Anambra, I urge you not to panic over this. It did not take us by surprise. We are adequately prepared to handle the situation”
“We have trained enough manpower on how to handle COVID-19 cases and our Protective Care Centers are among the best in the country at the moment”
Obiano further announced new measures to be taken to contain the spread of the virus, such as restriction on movement which had been extended by two weeks.
He said: “This time, we are placing a comprehensive lockdown on Anambra State. We shall not tolerate any movement across the state by individuals and groups”
“Only people on essential services are permitted to move around in the delivery of those services to the people”
“Ndi Anambra are advised to stay indoors to avoid getting contaminated by this virus.
“The security agencies will enforce the restriction on movement this time and they have my authorization to make arrests where necessary to keep our dear state safe”
“All boundaries with neighbouring states remain closed. There will be no vehicular or human traffic across all the boundaries of Anambra State.”
Whereas we commend the steps taken by this governor and indeed all other state governors, we urge them to also take proactive measures to alleviate the hunger the indigenes are suffering. share money and foodsuffs tto everybody to sit at home with else while covi is infesting some, hunger is killing some.
It is not by lock down. The answer lies on repentance and believe in God. Nothing transmits anything. It is that sin from garden of Eden weakening people’s body and manifest those symptoms because they had no holy spirit which raises us from death. I believe those who are growing into maturity in Christ will accept this fact.
In my own state , Ebonyi, it is quite disheartening that the paliative from FG did not get to people during this lock down. At the same time people’s shops were vandalized and most markets closed and relocated to new International that one has to pay as much as Millions to get shops. I wonder how these measures help cushion the effects of the lock down.