Sanwo-Olu Warns Employers Not To Discriminate COVID-19 Patients

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has warned employers in the state against discriminatory practices towards coronavirus survivors and those still receiving treatment.

This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by Oreoluwa Finnih, Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Health.

According to the statement made available via Twitter, the governor condemned the actions of Human Resources Managers who asked workers to take COVID-19 tests as a condition for the continuation of their appointments.

He noted that HR Managers should rather focus on educating their pool of talents on precautionary measures to take at the workplaces and everywhere as part of collective efforts to stamp out the pandemic.

Sanwo-Olu said, “It is futile to ask people to take COVID-19 tests if you are not going to sequester them after. It is also useless because your test is only as good as the period of time within which you’ve taken it. As long as people are going home every day it is pointless.

“Please focus on educating your workforce on preventive measures, reiterate the need for frequent hand washing, ensure that visitors and staff coming in are complying with the #MaskUpLagos and within the offices work stations are placed at a good distance apart.

“Ensure that stationery is not shared, common areas and all surfaces are cleaned more frequently. Encourage and enable remote work. COVID-19 testing is very serious business, testing reagents are scarce and are used strategically. Be wary of those peddling kits up and down.

“If someone falls ill from COVID-19, they will be issued a certificate of wellness from the accredited facility where they were treated and this should enable them to resume at work as soon as they feel fit to do so.

“Please do not sack anyone because they came down with COVID-19, it is discriminatory and stigmatises people.”

The governor stressed that the fight against the pandemic is collective and everyone must play their part but objected to employers asking employees to get COVID-19 results as it shifts responsibility, wastes resources, and gives a false sense of security to organisations and employees.

He, however, asked employers to report to the appropriate quarters should anyone display symptoms of the virus at workplaces.