Governors in the south-west have agreed to shut their borders and to make wearing of face masks compulsory to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the region.
Six states in the region reached the decision during a virtual meeting chaired by Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu who disclosed this the development on Friday.
He said;
The entry points of our six states be closed forthwith to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The state governors agreed that people involved in essential services or dealing in medicine, water and consumable items in particular traders and market men/women should endeavour to wear face masks while outside plying their trade, to minimise the spread of the deadly virus.
Governor Akeredolu stated that;
The governors further agreed that wearing of face masks would be made compulsory for everybody coming out of their homes effective from Friday, April 24, 2020 in their respective states.
The six states include Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Oyo.
It would be recalled that the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19 had blamed the spread of the virus on interstate travel, saying it has led to community spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, the total number of Coronavirus cases in the country has now exceeded 500.
As at 10:40pm on Saturday night, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed a total of 542 cases after announcing forty-nine new cases.
23 of the cases was confirmed in Lagos, 12 in FCT, 10 in Kano, 2 in Ogun and one each in Oyo and Ekiti.
