COVID-19: UNILAG to consider shutting hostels after emergency meeting

The Senate of the University of Lagos could soon shut the institution’s hostels after holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday, according to reports.

The PUNCH reported on Wednesday that some reliable sources have said that an emergency meeting was summoned to decide on shutting down the hostel in light of recent reports of a third-wave on campus. The meeting is expected to hold by 2 pm at the J.F Ade Ajayi auditorium.

Sources in the Senate told our correspondent that the meeting was summoned to take a decision on the COVID-19 situation in the school.

“It should be a short meeting. We will be deciding on whether hostels should be shut and if physical classes should continue. Some of the students are already leaving the hostels even before our decision,” the academic staff said.

Some students and lecturers in the university have voiced fears and concerns about reports of a COVID resurgence on campus. They noted that students and workers in the hostels are mostly affected.

One of the students, who reside in one of the hostels on the university campus, said, “We are having many people falling sick with COVID-19 symptoms. We don’t know what is happening. Many of us have to start going home instead of sleeping in the hostel.”

Another student confirmed that her roommate tested positive and had been isolated.

“Yes, one of my roommates tested positive. After that, we (other roommates) went for the COVID-19 test but returned negative. People are saying that there is Delta variant on campus, but I don’t know how true that is,” the undergraduate added.

The university’s spokesperson, Nonye Oguama, has declined comment.