Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has approved further easing of restrictions on social centres across the State with immediate effect.

The governor gave the approval after due consultations and deliberations with relevant stakeholders and MDAs including the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Lagos State Safety Commission.

The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, and the Director-General of Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, jointly conveyed the approval of the governor at Alausa, Ikeja, recently.

Akinbile-Yussuf stated that there are new guidelines for the facilities as approved by the governor, noting that all event centres operating in the State must hold a valid licence of the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture prior to operating as an event centre.

She added that all the centres must be duly registered and verified on the Lagos State Safety Commission website: www.lasgsafetyreg.com prior to holding any event. This is in addition to obtaining Event Safety Clearance from the Lagos State Safety Commission through the website: www.lasgsafetyreg.com for any proposed event or exhibition.

She added: “Safety Marshals shall be deployed by an accredited event safety consultant from Lagos State Safety Commission for every social event with attendance exceeding 200 people.

“Occupancy limit at any event must not exceed 50% of the maximum design capacity of the hall, wherein Occupancy Limit stickers provided by the Lagos State Safety Commission must be boldly posted at the entrance of the event hall. Maximum allowable capacity for event centres irrespective of the occupancy limit is 500 people”, she added.

The commissioner averred that deep cleaning must be carried out before and after every event, stressing that “Physical distancing shall be maintained between seated guests and a maximum number of seated guests should be six people on a table of 10 persons.

She said, “Event duration should not exceed a maximum period of six hours and all guests and service providers at the facility must wear a nose mask or face shield before entry. During the six-hour period, seated guests may safely remove their masks at intervals but must endeavour to wear their masks when leaving their seats.”

According to the commissioner, all guests and service providers must endeavour to wash their hands before entering event centres or in the alternative use hand sanitisers, adding that temperature checks must be taken at all entry points into the facility.

“Guests and service providers with temperature (above 37.5) are to be politely turned back and referred to paramedics or the emergency response team on-ground. Hand sanitisers must be positioned at the entry points and different spots within the hall. Restrooms must not be crowded. A maximum of three people at a time depending on the number of conveniences available,” Akinbile-Yussuf emphasised.

While advocating for frequent disinfection and wiping of all high touch areas such as doorknobs, toilet flush buttons/levers, stair railings, amongst others, especially in the rest rooms, the Commissioner averred that all event planners should ensure they have access to their guest lists and be willing to provide the list to the relevant authorities if/when required for ease of contact tracing of a COVID-19 positive guest.

She said “All event centres must endeavour to display standard COVID-19 safety signs. The signs must be bold and installed at conspicuous locations. The music level should not exceed 70dB. Safety moments/briefings should be rendered before the start of every event and at certain intervals in between the event. Event centre owners/planners/vendors would be responsible for any breach of protocols by their staff”.

“Relevant officers must be trained on basic first aid and emergency procedures. Any violation of this protocol shall attract fines and penalties in line with the Lagos State Infectious Diseases Control Regulation 2020,” the commissioner declared.