Third Wave of COVID-19 Imminent, Sanwo-Olu Warns

Says only 1% of Lagos residents received second dose of vaccine

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday warned that the third wave of COVID-19 was imminent in the state, revealing that the state has started experiencing a potential third wave of the pandemic with dire consequences.

He said the state government would do everything possible to prevent a massive outbreak, threatening imprisonment of travellers who fail to release number through which they can be contacted.

“Starting around the end of March 2021, the second wave of the COVID19 pandemic in Lagos State began to wind down, and we began to enjoy some reprieve from the worst effects of the virus.

“This allowed us to further open-up the economy to allow the start of the journey towards full normalcy in our lives and the pursuit of livelihoods, after what has been a very difficult year. Regrettably, in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lagos State.”

“Also, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at our isolation centres increased from an average of 1 per cent to 6 per cent. This is the new and disturbing reality that now confronts us.

“But we must not be demoralised by this. We must instead resolve that we will not leave any stone unturned in our bid to effectively mitigate the third wave of this pandemic in Lagos. As you all know, Lagos has been the epicentre of the pandemic since the start, and the way we manage it here has a significant impact and reverberating effect on the national outlook and outcomes.

“We will continue to test aggressively. We will also focus on sequencing the samples we are collecting to ensure we are detecting and keeping track of the different variants in circulation. It is only by testing and sequencing comprehensively that we can collect the data required for informed decision-making.”