Ebola: WHO, LASG Caution against Schools’ Resumption

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Lagos State Government yesterday warned the federal government against the September 22 resumption date of primary and secondary schools across the country. The warning came as the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, yesterday announced  that a South African national who showed symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) had been quarantined in Lagos. Both WHO and the Lagos government asked the federal government to review the resumption date for the public and private schools in the country until the scourge of the virus is properly dealt with. The WHO Country Representative, Mr. Rui Van Gaz, urged the federal government to exercise caution during a courtesy visit to the state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the State House in Alausa yesterday. Gaz, who came alongside other officials of the world health body, said the federal government should ensure that the schools are fully prepared in terms of availability of water, soaps and sanitizers among others. He added that the teachers “must be fully aware of what is needed to be done when they are faced with any suspected case of Ebola Virus in their schools. The students must be enlightened about the symptoms of the deadly virus. Even though the number of Ebola Virus cases has reduced, most of the contacts are out of the 21 days. We should avoid any form of complacency until the last case is over and we have completed the surveillance to ensure that no other potential case. We should not relent in the effort to tackling the dreaded virus. We need to learn from this experience by not only dealing with the disease but to strengthen the entire health system in the federation.

Thisday Newspaper