The governor disclosed this while giving an update on the management of the pandemic in the state at the State House, Alausa, Ikeja on Monday, August 2. He said Lagos State has started experiencing an increase in the number of daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 with the positivity rate going from 1.1 per cent at the end of June 2021 to seven per cent at the end of July 2021.

He said “Epidemiology Update from the beginning of the outbreak in February 2020 to date, Lagos State has recorded a total of 64,032 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 56,336 have recovered in the community, 2,755 are currently being managed actively in the community. Over the course of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, about 5,029 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres in Lagos.  We have, sadly, recorded 390 fatalities in Lagos State, 30 of which have taken place in this current 3rd wave of the pandemic. Essentially, we have recorded on average 6 deaths per day since last week, ”

He said this while addressing students on Thursday, May 27, during the Children’s Day celebration at the Police College, Ikeja.

Speaking on behalf of the Lagos State Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, said “The new law against cultism prescribes punitive measures for parents of young people convicted of cultism. Parents should be vigilant and monitor their children. We owe them a duty to ensure that their dreams and aspirations are realised through continuous training, guidance and mentoring”

It explained that the Snacks for Thought programme was created to complement the homegrown school feeding programme of the Federal Government, which covered only pupils in primary one to primary three.

The government added that its feeding programme would take care of the pupils at the crèche and primary four to primary six.

The Special Adviser of the Office of Civic Engagement, Princess Aderemi Adebowale, made this known on Monday during the ministerial press briefing commemorating the second year anniversary of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in Alausa, Ikeja.

She said, “The programme will cost the government N11bn. We are going to partner organisation on this. We already have over 400 volunteers that will work with us. In order to curb these rising numbers, we need more than statutory allocations. Intervention such as this will increase the rate of enrolment in schools and serve as a preventive security measure in reducing crime and hooliganism that may, later on, disrupt the socio-economic life of the state. The indigent pregnant women were selected from those who attend our Primary Healthcare Centres in the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas of the state.”

In an interview on Channels Television, Sanwo-Olu said they don’t need to vaccinate 20 million Lagos residents as the plan is to ensure herd immunity. He also revealed that the state government is engaging some companies in the production of COVID-19 vaccines for residents of the state.

He said “It is important for me to make this. We don’t have to vaccinate the 20 or 22 million population that we have. The plan is to ensure that there is herd immunity and that typically speaks about 50 to 60 per cent of your population, that is the kind of target that you really meet. We have started a conversation with some of the vaccine manufacturers. Pfizer for example, I have made contact with them, Johnson and Johnson are not out yet, the Moderna has written to us and we have written back to them. The conversations are still at various levels. We are speaking with the organised private sector so they can help us raise some of the finance that is required. We have our friends in the private sector who are saying to us that they understand this is a public health issue but we also can work with you. The citizens are your citizens but they also are our staff,”

Senior special assistant to the governor on new media, Jubril Gawat confirmed the development on Twitter and also revealed that the Lagos State Governor made this known in a bill submitted to the state house of assembly on Tuesday November 10.

Gawat tweeted “Governor of Lagos State, Mr @jidesanwoolu has announced his intention, through an executive bill, to repeal the public office holder (Payment of Pension Law 2007), which provides for payment of pension & other entitlements to former governors and their deputies”

Speaking on Sunday, November 1, during a condolence visit and meeting with tenants and shop owners at the Mall in Lekki, Governor Sanwo-Olu said Lagos State Government will give tax break and some financial assistance to all the business owners affected by the ugly incident.

The Governor said Lagos State Government will give all business owners in the burnt Circle Mall tax break of PAYE and also appealed to Federal Government to ensure that they get tax relief from the Federal Internal Revenue Services (FIRS).

A statement from the state government reads “Sanwo-Olu asked the shop owners to reach out to the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and urged them to make use of the opportunities being provided by the agency in assisting people who are in business, especially small scale businesses”

He announced the approval at a press briefing on Saturday, September 19. He said mosques can hold their prayers five times daily while churches can also commence weekly services.

Worship centres were restricted to one gathering weekly after they were allowed to reopen following lockdown to check coronavirus in the nation.

Governor Sanwo-Olu also announced that public and private schools can resume fully on Monday, September 21, 2020.

The governor also announced that cinemas, gyms, spas and recreational centres in the state can now reopen for business at 33 per cent capacity which is one-third of their capacity.

For cinemas and gyms, Governor Sanwo-Olu said “If they have gotten safety protocol clearance, from tomorrow, Sunday, they can resume. Their resumption is only at 33 per cent of their capacity, meaning its only one-third capacity that you have at the various cinemas”

Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho disclosed that the Executive Secretary was not authorised to make such an announcement.

The statement read “There is no levy on audio and visual contents of all physical and digital platforms in Lagos State. The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board, Mr Bamidele Balogun, is said to have announced a five per cent levy. The government hereby dissociates itself from the said announcement in the media. The Executive Secretary, who was not authorised to make such an announcement, has been suspended, pending an administrative enquiry.”

The governor lamented that the aviation industry, as well as the entertainment, hospitality and transportation sectors, had been “significantly” affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Federal Government on March 23 shut all international airports in the country before it later extended the closure to all airports in the country, banning all local and international flights.

Sanwo-Olu spoke as a panellist at a webinar hosted by FSDH Merchant Bank on Friday said, “In terms of direct economy, I know that the entertainment industry has been affected badly. I know the hospitality industry has been affected greatly, especially as people could not go out. It affected those sectors badly. Transportation business and the aviation sector have been affected significantly and these are large employers of labour. We all know that Nollywood employs many people, so we are thinking through how to reset these economies very quickly but in a very gradual manner. So, the aviation industry has been badly hit and just this (Friday) morning, I spoke with a major player in that industry and we are trying to get the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to see whether we are going to resume Lagos–Abuja flights before we get to other sectors. There has to be some gradual process in lifting the lockdown. We will continue to have engagements with all of the players down the value chain. At the right time when we see that the t’s have been crossed and I’s have been dotted, we will do that and you can hold us to that.”

The Governor blamed the development on global shortage of reagent for molecular testing of the samples.

He said “We have 3,000 samples collected but we have not been able to carry the test because of the global shortage of reagent for molecular testing.  We are hoping that some of the reagents will be supplied tomorrow and Tuesday. It would not be out of place to see positive cases in the range of 20 percent out of the 3,000 samples collected. We are improving the capacity of our isolation facilities in preparation to take care of more patients.”