By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Workers on the payroll of the Lagos State government from grade level 12 and below have been directed to continue to work from home for another four weeks.
They were supposed to resume on Monday, March 1, 2021, but the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has extended the directive by a month.
A statement issued by the Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola, disclosed that all public servants on salary grade levels 12 and below should continue to work from home with effect from Monday, March 1 to Friday, March 26, 2021.
It was explained that this action was taken to further stem the spread of COVID-19 within the public service and other stakeholders.
The government said it was delighted that measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus in the state were already yielding meaningful results as there has been a steady decline in the number of recorded cases in the preceding weeks.
In the statement, Mr Muri-Okunola maintained that in order to sustain the success so far recorded; the Governor felt it was necessary to extend the policy.
However, the HoS stressed that the directive does not preclude any of the exempted grade levels from reporting for duty whenever the Accounting Officer deems it necessary.
“All public servants are advised to continue to stay safe by observing all COVID-19 protocols such as physical distancing, regular use of face masks and hand hygiene.
“Also, Accounting Officers are to ensure strict adherence to all extant directives aimed to guarantee physical distancing in the workplace by preparation of weekly duty rosters as considered germane to effective service delivery in respective MDAs,” the head of civil servants in Lagos State said.
Recall that Lagos State has witnessed a decline in the number of infections in the recent past due to the government’s regular updates on preventive measures as well as public enlightenment campaigns to create awareness about measures to stem the spread of the deadly virus.