Governor Seyi Makinde has disclosed that Coronavirus is real even though he made a joke about it in the early stage at a PDP rally.
In a telephone interview on Fresh FM on Tuesday March 31, Makinde said he never doubted the existence of Coronavirus even though he joked about it.
He added that he used COVID-19 in same metaphorical way an APC leader did, when they were fighting about their chairmanship.
He said:-
“To the good people of Oyo State, I want to say again: COVID-19 is real. So, they must follow all the measures government has put in place to prevent, contain and control this virus.”
The Governor who is one of the 8 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Oyo State, stated that they would continue to assess the situation and take measures where necessary.
Makinde added:-
“Oyo is not going to be locked down because every other state is doing that. Yes, Lagos can be on lockdown, Ogun can be on lockdown, Oyo state, yes, people have been saying have a total lockdown and then I have been asking them questions.
“What will be the benefits here? Are there alternative courses of action for us to take? If you ask people not to come out, you lock down the market places, there are people who what they sell today – the profit from today’s activities is what they will eat tomorrow.
“There are many people like that within our environment. So, are there alternatives available to us? Can we do selective lockdowns? That’s why I imposed the curfew…”