7th September, 2021
By Precious Akutamadu/ Port Harcourt
Gov.Nyesom Wike of Rivers has threatened to re-impose the suspended COVID-19 lockdown measures if residents fail to comply with COVID-19 protocols.
Wike made the threat in a broadcast Monday night in Port Harcourt.
He said that daily figures released from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) showed that both the transmission and death rates in the past two weeks had consistently been on the increase due to non compliance by the residents.
He said that it remained the desire of the state government to keep the state open and allow citizens to go about their social, religious and economic activities unimpeded
He, however, warned that government might be compelled to impose a fresh lockdown if the residents continued to disregard the protocols.
“We may be constrained to re-impose the suspended COVID-19 lockdown measures across the state if the transmission of the disease continues to increase beyond tolerable limits,” he stated.
He observed that the state might face a serious health disaster of profound consequences if residents and visitors continued to behave as if the pandemic no longer existed or was impotent in Rivers.
“Accordingly, I wish to remind residents of the subsisting protocols on regular washing of hands and use of alcohol-based sanitizer; maintaining social distancing; wearing of face masks at all public places.
He included transport vehicles and “going for immediate testing and treatment whenever you notice any of the symptoms”.
The Governor appealed to all residents to protect themselves and their loved ones by taking the vaccine at the designated health centres in the 23 Local Government Areas of the State as they became available.
He said that it had been proven that vaccinations were saving lives across the world.
“Those refusing to take the vaccines for no certified medical reasons should know that they are endangering the rest of the citizens.
“I also appeal to religious leaders and churches to convince and encourage their followers to please go out and take the vaccines and comply with the covid-19 protocols,” he appealed.
Rivers is the third most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 10,809 cases till date.
Lagos and Abuja are ahead of the state.
At the moment, Rivers has 833 active cases and the death toll is 137.
On Monday, the state recorded 44 new infections, second to Lagos with 138.