Kogi State on Monday joined Lagos in directing civil servants to stay away from work for the next two weeks to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The directive is effective from Monday, Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi commissioner for information and communication said in a statement.
Affected workers are grade level 1 to 13. They constitute 70 per cent of the state’s workforce.
But workers in emergency and essential services such as healthcare and fire services are not included in the directive.
“The Governor of the State, His Excellency Alh Yahaya Bello has approved the ‘Work from Home’ approach to ensure the virus doesn’t spread through contacts at government offices across the state,” the statement read.
“Those who render critical services will be communicated through the Office of the Head of Service of the State on how to keep the system running without endangering the workers, despite the inevitable decision of Government.”
There is no confirmed case of coronavirus yet in Kogi.
But the statement said it is “leaving no stone unturned to ensure the virus doesn’t find its way to the state and in the unfortunate scenario it does, Government is prepared to control and manage the cases.”
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Sunday announced almost the same directive barely hours after three new cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in the state.