COVID-19: Diri Extends Total Lockdown In Bayelsa State

In a bid to protect citizens of Bayelsa State, Governor Duoye Diri has extended the lockdown order in the province by one week.

The governor gave the fresh directive during a meeting of the state’s COVID-19 task force and other top government officials at Government House, Yenagoa.

His Acting Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the Bayelsa chief executive as saying the state had adopted the imposition of the nationwide daily curfew of 8pm to 6am effective yesterday.

He also authorized the mandatory wearing of facemasks in public in deference to the presidential directive, threatening violators with the prosecution.

The governor equally directed the state-owned International Institute of Hospitality and Tourism to work out the modalities for large-scale production of facemasks for onward distribution to the public as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the state.

His words: “On the compulsory use of facemask directive countrywide, we must all now put on facemask for our own health and safety. We have the option of a cloth facemask or the surgical mask.”

He restated that the inter-state borders and maritime domain of Bayelsa would remain locked down for 24 hours, while intra-city and intra-state movements would still be allowed except that the people must observe all the precautionary measures.