The Federal Government has announced that the decontamination of schools against the spread of COVID-19 in preparation for the reopening of schools will commence on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.
This disclosure was made known by the Minister of Environment, Muhammed Mahmood during the COVID-19 Presidential Tax Force briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja.
Mahmood in his address gave assurance that there are enough hands on ground to execute the disinfection exercise.
He said: “Earlier I told you we have sat with the Ministry of Education and we have the list of all the schools that need to be disinfected before resumption.
“Well, what we plan to do is to decontaminate the centres that will be used.”
The Minister while explaining the reason for the delayed process said it was intentional, adding that it was done to ensure chemicals were effective enough when the schools resume.
“The delay is because it is better to disinfect and decontaminate within a short period of time, so that the kids will be going back into these classes when they have been freshly decontaminated.
“This is because the chemicals we use are chemicals that are not long lasting; they have short contact time to do their job.
“So, we will be getting this done before Monday when they(school children) will be back to use these classes.”
He further assured parents of the safety of schools for learning activities.
“So, it is between tomorrow (Tuesday) and the rest of the week. We have enough teams and people that will be engaged to get that done.
“Be rest assured that your kids will be returning to a safe environment when they resume.”
Mohmood further stressed that the decontamination exercise would be carried out across the country.
The Federal Government was forced to shut down schools as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, however, it was announced in March, that schools across the country would be disinfected before they will be reopen for classes.
