Ahead of the resumption of classes, Federal Government said on Monday that the disinfection of schools against the spread of COVID-19 will begin on Tuesday.
Also explaining why it delayed the decontamination process, the FG added that there were enough teams on ground to carry out the disinfection exercise.
Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmood, disclosed this in Abuja at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
“Earlier, I told you that 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 now is to do (decontaminate) the centres that will be used,” he said.
On the reason for the delay of the process, the minister said it was intentional, as the plan was to ensure that the chemicals were effective enough when the schools resume.
He added, “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 (schoolchildren) will be back to use these classes.”
The minister said the decontamination and disinfection would commence from Tuesday, assuring parents that the schools would be safe for learning activities.
“So it is between tomorrow (Tuesday) and the rest of the week. We have enough teams and people that we will engage to get that done. So rest assured that your kids will be returning to a safe environment when they resume,” he said.
Mahmood noted that the decontamination exercise would be done across the country.