COVID-19: Gov. Wike To Lockdown Rivers Next Year

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said he will impose a fresh lockdown in the state from January next year to curb the spread of COVID-19.

He stated this during the thanksgiving church service in celebration of the 90th birthday of Mrs. Priscilla Nwanediye Mark, at the St. Martin’s Anglican Church, Omagwa in Ikwerre Local Government on Sunday.

He hinted that with the surging case of coronavirus in the state a second phase of lockdown is imminent.

The Rivers governor condemned churches and markets for their failure to enforce compulsory wearing of face masks in adherence to COVID-19 protocol.

Wike said: “When you go to some churches, they don’t wear masks. Go to the market, they don’t wear masks. They believe COVID is not real. It’s not real because it has not happened to you; nobody has died whom you know.

“When somebody has died and the person was close to you, you will know that COVID is real.

“So, it is real and I want to appeal to all of you that we have to be stricter now because the second wave is more dangerous than the first wave. It’s very, very dangerous. I know how many people we have lost since the second wave started.”