Jaiz Bank Plc, a non-interest bank that is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, said its Ikeja branch has been shut down and will remain closed for two weeks. The decision was taken after one of the bank’s staff became infected with the COVID-19 virus.
In an email that was sent out to customers, Jaiz Bank explained that it does not want any more of its staff or customers to contract the virus, hence the shutdown. In the meantime, the infected staff is currently in isolation, even as customers who visited the branch last week were advised to self-quarantine for two weeks.
“The branch has been shut down for the safety of our customers and staff and immediate disinfection of the branch will take place to eliminate any cause for worry,” part of the email said.
When Nairametrics reached out for further confirmation of the incident, a company representative told us that Jaiz Bank is “sincerely apologetic” for any inconvenience the branch’s closure may cause customers.
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Recall that this is not the first time a Nigerian bank would be shutting down its branch following a COVID-19 scare. Just last week, Wema Bank Plc confirmed to Nairametrics that two cases of COVID-19 were reported in two of its branches across the country.
As you may well know, Nigeria has been battling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March this year, with the infection rate consistently climbing to new heights on a daily basis. Latest figures from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) say that there are a total of 20,919 confirmed cases. Unfortunately, 525 people have died of the virus according to official records, even as 7,109 previously hospitalised patients have recovered.
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Now, back to Jaiz Bank Plc for a moment; the bank’s share price is currently trading at N0.59 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, down from a previous open of N0.60. The Islamic bank, which has a market capitalisation of about N17.4 billion, reported a profit after tax of N2.4 billion in its latest earnings report which was for FY 2019.