In what may be a first, the Cross River State Government has announced a radical policy to tackle and stave off the menace of the dreaded COVID-19 with a “No nose mask, no movement” policy in the State.
Recall that a medical doctor, incidentally from that State, but based in Abuja, had written a thought-provoking opinion for Nigeria Everyday advocating use of face-masks to flatten the curves of infection.
https://everyday.ng/opinion-flattening-the-covid-19-infection-curve-the-cost-effective-option-in-support-of-mask4all/
A day after, Governor Ben Ayade, announced the face-mask policy, adding that the state garment factory will produce and give out them free of charge.
A full statement by his spokesman, Mr. Christian Ita reads:
“Following the proliferation of new cases of coronavirus in neighboring states, the Cross River state governor, Sir Ben Ayade has imposed new restrictions on residents of the state as follows:
1. No citizen or resident of the state will be allowed to leave home without a face mask from Friday 3rd, April 2020.
2. Failure to adhere to this directive will lead to the arrest and quarantine of the offenders for 14 days.
3. The Cross River State garment factory has been mandated to produce face masks to be distributed free to citizens and residents alike to meet with the demand.
4. Those who for one reason or the other are unable to get masks from government before the new restrictions kick in, are advised to purchase theirs from shops selling the item.
5. All public gatherings remain banned, markets should remain closed except where foodstuff is sold.
6. All exit and entry points into the state are now completely shut. No human or vehicular movement will be allowed into the state under any disguise.”