29th March, 2021
By Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Edo state government has declared that it is gradually winning the war against the second wave of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Despite this, it has continued to intensify vaccination of eligible residents and other measures to contain the deadly virus across18 local government areas in the state.
The State Covid-19 Incident Manager, Dr Andrew Obi, disclosed this during the daily virtual meeting of the State Covid-19 Taskforce.
He stated that the state is witnessing a progressive decline in active cases and case positivity and an over 50 per cent rise in recovery rate, with no death in the last 14 days.
He noted that the new data is an indication that the outbreak has been significantly contained in the state.
“Edo state, in the last 72 hours, collected 103 samples and recorded 2 new cases and 20 recoveries with no deaths.
“We currently have 19 active cases that are being managed at various treatment and isolation facilities,” Obi said.
Noting that the community transmission of the virus stands at 92.2 per cent and case positivity at 1.1 per cent, Obi disclosed that the confirmed cases were reported from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) laboratory.
He added that Edo has so far collected 22, 092 samples and recorded 2180 confirmed cases, 2072 recoveries and 73 deaths since December 01, 2020, when the state started tracking the second wave of the pandemic.
Urging residents to continue to comply with the state’s preventive protocols against the spread of the infectious disease, Obi further urged citizens with Covid-19 symptoms to contact the Edo Emergency Operation Centre on this toll-free number: 08003625000 for assistance.
On her part, the Executive Secretary of the state’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Julie Erhabor, noted that the state has intensified the vaccination of health workers, the elderly and other eligible members of the public across the state.
Reassuring the government’s commitment to containing the pandemic and protecting the people, Erhabor said the state has cumulatively vaccinated over 24, 873 persons, which represent 51.82 per cent of the target population for the first phase of the vaccination exercise in the state.
However, she charged the elderly, frontline workers and other eligible members of the public to take advantage of the vaccination exercise to get themselves and their loved ones protected against the virus.