Covid-19 Third Wave Imminent In Lagos — Sanwo-Olu Alerts

Covid-19 Third Wave Imminent In Lagos — Sanwo-Olu Alerts

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Sunday, said the state has started experiencing a potential third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with dire consequences.

Sanwo-Olu, who gave the alert while giving an update on the Coronavirus pandemic situation in the state and ongoing response as a government, added that the country stands the risks of losing both lives and livelihood on a devastating scale.

According to Sanwo-Olu, “Starting around the end of March 2021, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos began to wind down, and we began to enjoy some reprieve from the worst effects of the virus.

This allowed us to further open up the economy to allow the start of the journey towards full normalcy in our lives and the pursuit of livelihoods, after what has been a very difficult year.

“Regrettably, in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lagos State.

“From the beginning of July, we started to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1 per cent at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6 per cent as of July 8, 2021. The rapid increase within a week gives great cause for concern.

“Also, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at our isolation centres increased from an average of 1 per cent to 6 per cent. This is the new and disturbing reality that now confronts us.

“But we must not be demoralized by this. We must instead resolve that we will not leave any stone unturned in our bid to effectively mitigate the third wave of this pandemic in Lagos. As you all know, Lagos has been the epicentre of the pandemic since the start, and the way we manage it here has a significant impact and reverberating effect on the national outlook and outcomes.

“We will continue to test aggressively. We will also focus on sequencing the samples we are collecting to ensure we are detecting and keeping track of the different variants in circulation. It is only by testing and sequencing comprehensively that we can collect the data required for informed decision-making.”

Ahead of the Sallah celebration, Sanwo-Olu, stated, “Greater vigilance is required at this time in our Churches and Mosques and other places of religious worship.

We must not allow ourselves to be carried away by the illusion that all is now back to normal. This is especially critical, as Sallah approaches, in a little over a week from now.