Union Bank Staff Dies From Coronavirus Complications

One of Union Bank staff has died due to Coronavirus complications, an internal memo from the Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Emeka Emuwa, revealed.

The news comes a day after Nigerian banks began to open their branches to their customers after a long lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The worker had passed away while receiving treatment at the Yaba Infectious Disease Center in Lagos. The unnamed staff was said to have passed away at the early hours of May 4, 2020, the same day banks resumed operation. It was, however, disclosed that the staff had not been at the office when he started developing the COVID-19 symptoms.

The employee was said to have been working from home following the activation of a work-from-home program by Union Bank, "Please note that this employee had been working remotely since the Bank activated remote working in March and has not worked or been in any of our offices or branches since then." Emuwa said in the memo seen by Allnews.

While commenting on the identity of the staff, Emuwa stated that the identity of the employee wouldn't be revealed out of respect to the family. He said the staff's identity will remain protected until the "family chooses to make a formal announcement." His death is one of the 93-COVID-19 related cases that Nigeria has recorded. Nigeria now has 2802 COVID-19 confirmed cases in Nigeria.

According to Emuwa, the worker's death is a "painful reminder" of the threat coronavirus poses. He stated that "COVID-19 is a respecter of no one and we all must all continue to take the highest levels of precaution to protect ourselves and others around us."

He added that other employees should stay home and stay safe as "Remote working continues." While Union bank staff will continue to work-from-home, other banks have resumed operation in some selected branches.

Banks like GTBank, Access, FCMB struggled to keep the crowd in line as regards the safety measures of COVID-19. Although, GTbank, Access Bank and Polaris Bank have all released guidelines for customers to adhere to if they (customers) intend to gain access to the bank premises and banking hall.