Edo State Government on Friday declared that there was no record of Indian COVID-19 variant in the state, as being speculated on social media.
The State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, disclosed at a briefing to provide an update on the state’s COVID-19 response.
The Governor who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, in the State Ministry of Health, Dr. Osamwonyi Irowa said comparatively, the state has witnessed a 12.9 per cent drop in the number of infected persons.
According to him, “there is currently no update or report suggestive of any such occurrence or new case of Covid-19 reported within Edo in the past 96 hours.”
He said the federal government, as part of efforts to ensure the new variant of Covid-19 did not enter into the country, had on 26th of April 2021 taken precautionary steps by restricting international travel from India, Brazil and Turkey, while strengthening surveillance at all entry points into the country.
“As government, we have reached out to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), with regards to any Indian variant in Edo and the verified information reveals that the said sample was collected in January 2021.
“Edo has witnessed a 12.9 per cent drop in the number of infected persons comparatively. There has also been a 23.5 percent comparative increase in the number of older persons infected with Covid-19 in the two waves of Covid-19 in the state.
“The prevalence of Covid-19 among young person’s especially school children in Edo is low, dropped by 18.5 per cent, comparatively for first and second wave, most of which are asymptomatic in presentation but they pose risk for spread to older persons.
“A total of 54,534 Covid-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) samples for testing were collected; 4,905 persons have been infected with Covid-19; five persons are currently on treatment and 4,715 persons have recovered from the disease.”
“A total of 185 persons have died, with no new case reported in the past 48 hours across the state.
“A total of 36,235 persons have been vaccinated across the state with the first dose of AstraZeneca Vaccine, accounting for 89.1 per cent of our set target already vaccinated,” Obaseki said.
He however commended the people of the state for their cooperation with the various strategies put in place by the government to contain the pandemic.
He further called on citizens to make themselves available for the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination in the state, describing it as a major step in containing the pandemic.
