Lagos to conduct mass burials if mortuaries are not decongested in two weeks

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, says if mortuaries in the state are not decongested within the next two weeks, mass burial will be conducted.

He spoke at a press briefing on Saturday, while giving updates on the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

According to him, residents are now allowed to conduct burials, as long as they adhere to the rules on social distancing and other measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as well as avoid organising parties during such events.

“If we’re unable to see a decongestion of mortuaries across the state within the next two weeks, Lagos state government will now be compelled to seek to have a mass burial and we would not want to force this on anybody, which is why we are asking for the cooperation of all of us,” he said.

“This is not the time when you need to wait for your brother or your sister or your sibling, who is 10,000km or 6,000km away from here for them to come back before you can have the funeral.

“These are very difficult times and I can imagine that families and relatives and siblings will understand that we need to have this and we need to put this behind us.

“So, we are reiterating it again that we’ll give two weeks window and we’ll expect a lot of people to comply after which the state government might have to take other decisions in that manner.”

He added that the use of face masks will henceforth be compulsory at all public gatherings, and urged the private sector to endeavour to provide masks for workers.