Amid scare of the second wave of COVID-19, the federal government has directed all the civil workers on grade level 12 and below to continue working from home.
The directive was given on Tuesday, January 26, in a circular by Folashade Esan, head of civil service. The circular was addressed to the offices of the chief of staff to the president, clerk of the national assembly, permanent secretaries.
According to report gathered, this development came in hours after the presidential task force on COVID-19 extended the third phase of the eased lockdown by one month.
The federal government warned the civil servants and other Nigerians to comply with the safety protocols put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The circular read in part: “Further to the Circular, No. HCSF/3065/Vol.1/47 dated 22nd December 2020, on the above subject; and following the advice of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, all officers on GL 12 and below are to continue working from home till end of February, 2021.
“It is important to emphasise the need to ensure strict compliance with the existing guidelines on the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.
Nigeria presently has 124,299 cases of COVID-19 with 99,276 recoveries and 1522 deaths as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 1,303 new cases on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the federal government warned that it would shut down the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in the states that fail to comply with all COVID-19 protocols.
The minister of youths and sports development, Sunday Dare, gave the warning during the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, on Monday, January 25.
The minister said the NYSC would not allow youths to be endangered, adding that those already deployed to any state affected would be redeployed to other places.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccine is now being distributed globally, bringing hope for the end of the pandemic. Nigeria is awaiting the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines into the country in March 2021 according to the authorities.
While many Nigerians await the arrival of the vaccines, some are skeptical about how they will be administered in a country of over 200 million people.
