After the Cross River State Commissioner of Education, Godwin Amanke declared in a widely circulated press release, dated March 23, 2020, that all state controlled educational institutions in the state “will not be shutting down”, even with the reality of the Corona virus pandemic looming, state governor, Ben Ayade, this evening discarded the Commissioner’s decision and directed among others that: “All educational institutions in the state, both public and private must shut down from, Tuesday, March 24, 2020 until further notice.”

Furthermore, local council elections initially scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 28, 2020, have been indefinitely suspended, a press statement signed by the Governor’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita, has revealed.

“All the entry points into Cross River State (land, air and water) are hereby locked down. Access will be based on passing a thorough screening regime. Civil servants in the state, however, except those on essential services i.e medical personnel and revenue officers, should with immediate effect, stay away from work for an initial period of two weeks. All social, cultural and religious activities are hereby suspended and essential activities must not have a crowd beyond five persons. Every tricycle (keke Napep) and taxi can carry only one passenger at a time and must have hand sanitizers for use by their passengers. Buses are henceforth permitted to have only two passengers on a seat with the drivers mandated to sanitize their vehicles after every trip.

All public areas, pubs, bars and restaurants are limited to five customers at a time. All transport companies must keep a travel manifest for inbound and outbound passengers. They must also provide hand wash stands and hand sanitizers in their buses. Passengers are consequently encouraged to wash their hands with soap and water and sanitize them before boarding” among others firm regulations in place.

Therefore, Cross Riverians are advice to discard the initial press release by the Commissioner for Health and adhere to this new directives by the state government.