Ebola: Lagos Schools May Not Honour FG’s September 22 Resumption Date – Fashola

Lagos State Government may extend the resumption date for schools in the state if ongoing scientific risk evaluation recommends that September 22 announced by the federal government would not be totally safe.

Governor Babatunde Fashola gave this hint when he received the Country Representative of the World Health Organization, Mr. Rui Van Gaz who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

The federal government had insisted that Ebola outbreak in the country had been contained and therefore saw no reason why students cannot return to school. The decision has been met with criticism from different quarters, with teachers even threatening strike, should the government stick with the September 22 resumption.

Fashola however said; “The state government is in the process of ascertaining through scientific risk evaluation, whether it will accept the date announced by the Federal Government.”

He explained that if evaluation showed that children would be at risk on resumption, Lagos schools would not open on September 22.

Earlier, Mr. Van Gaz, said that the entire leadership of WHO commended Governor Fashola and his team for their efforts at containing the Ebola virus.

He urged the state government to avoid being complacent due to the apparent drop in the number of Ebola cases, saying the war had not been won until the virus was entirely wiped out.

“On schools resumption, we need to ensure that the schools are fully prepared in terms of availability of water, soaps and sanitizers. The teachers must be fully aware of what is needed to be done when they are faced with any suspected case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in their school. The students must be enlightened about the symptoms of the deadly disease.

“Even though the number of Ebola cases has reduced and most of the contacts are out of the 21-day quarantine, we should avoid any complacency. Until the last case is over and surveillance completed, we should not relent in the effort at tackling the disease. We need to learn from this experience by not only dealing with the disease but to strengthen the entire health system in the country.”