Federal Government on Monday issued stay at home order for Federal civil servants at grade levels one to 12 as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus in the country.

A circular signed to the effect by Head of the Civil Service if the Federation, Mrs Folashade Yemi-Esan, said all non-essential public servants on the grade levels must stay at home compulsorily from March 24, 2020.

The circular was copied to Chief of Staff to the President, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice-President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, all ministers/ministers of state, all permanent secretaries, Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor General for the Federation and other principal officers in government.

It stated, “As you are no doubt aware, the Federal Government has taken a number of measures to manage the identified cases of COVID -19 and curtail its spread.

“Government is concerned about the welfare and safety of all public servants just as it is about other Nigerians. All public servants are, therefore, strongly advised to follow the measures being put in place by government to curtail the spread of the pandemic.

“As a further step to check the spread of COVID- 19, all non-essential public servants at  grade levels 12 and below are to stay and work from home with effect from Tuesday, 24th March, 2020 until further notice. Each Permanent Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of MDAs shall determine the essential staff within grade levels 12 and below who will continue to perform their duties in the office. It is important to stress that this is not a holiday, as any officer can be recalled; therefore, no officer should travel out of station.

“All other categories of officers who will be at work, are strongly advised to limit the number of visitors they receive to the barest minimum. This is to reduce physical contact as much as possible.”

The circular called on officers who recently visited countries with incidence of COVID- 19 or, have had contact with persons who recently returned from these countries, to self-isolate at home for two weeks and inform their Permanent Secretaries/Chief Executive Officers of the development.

Punch