Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki has place on hold, the school reopening process till at least February 1, 2021.
This directive was given at the briefing by the Governor yesterday at the State House in Benin, amongst other guidelines which included the review of the curfew which is to now start from 10pm to 5am in the state.
In the words of the Gov. Obaseki, “comparing the first six weeks of the pandemic from March 23, 2020, with the first six weeks since December 1, 2020, Edo State has witnessed an 84.5 percent rise in the number of infected persons.
“There has also been a 10.5 percent increase in the number of older persons infected with Covid-19. It is early days yet, but we have evidence suggesting that more older persons infected with COVID-19 are dying.
“Most of the cases in the early phase of the pandemic were travel-related but since December 2020, there has been a 13.9 percent increase in community transmission of the disease. This is a big concern especially with the evidence before us that there has been a 15 percent increase in the number of persons infected with COVID-19 who show no signs or symptoms of the disease but are transmitting it in our communities. Our children and youth are major contributors to this group.”
Gov. Obaseki concluded by saying that schools are to remain shut till February 1, 2021, when the prevailing realities are to be reviewed to determine if it would be safe to reopen the schools.
