Govt Speaks On Closing Primary, Secondary Schools Over COVID-19

The Rivers Government on Friday dismissed reports that it has ordered the closure of primary and secondary schools in the state over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The government dismissed the report in a statement issued on Friday in Port Harcourt by the Commissioner of Education, Prof. Kanye Ebeku.

There was an earlier statement purportedly signed by an official of the ministry announcing the shutdown of schools, NAN reports.

Describing the news as fake, Ebeku said no such order was giving by Governor Nyesom Wike over concerns that there was an upsurge in coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in the state.

He accused mischief makers whose intention was to pit the people against the state government for spreading the fake reports.

The commissioner urged the academic community and other stakeholders to ignore the mischievous and misleading information.

“The attention of Rivers Education Ministry has been drawn to a fake news trending on social media that Gov. Nyesom Wike ordered closure of schools for two weeks.

“The Ministry hereby categorically states that the news is false and should be treated as false news.

“The news is the handiwork of fraudsters and mischief makers who derive pleasure in misleading members of the public and causing confusion,” Ebeku said.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday night reported 1483 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

The newly reported cases bring the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nigeria to 118,138 which includes 94,150 discharged cases and 1,490 deaths.

Below is the breakdown of the latest cases according to states with Kaduna State having the highest number of cases followed by Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Kaduna-545 FCT-235 Plateau-127 Nasarawa-80 Oyo-72 Delta-65 Rivers-64 Kano-46 Ogun-46 Bayelsa-30 Gombe-30 Abia-28 Osun-27 Edo-25 Ondo-14 Sokoto-12 Zamfara-10 Bauchi-8 Imo-5 Jigawa-4 Ekiti-4 Borno-4 Niger-2