COVID-19 third wave imminent in Lagos – Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said on Sunday, the state is on the verge of experiencing the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanwo-Olu, who stated this during media briefing held at the State House in Marina, warned that the country may lose lives and livelihood on a devastating scale in the third wave of the pandemic.

Lagos remained the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria with 60,202 confirmed cases.

However, 55,135 have recovered and discharged from the state’s treatment facilities.

The governor said: “Starting around the end of March 2021, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos began to wind down, and we began to enjoy some reprieve from the worst effects of the virus. This allowed us to further open up the economy to allow the start of the journey towards full normalcy in our lives and the pursuit of livelihoods, after what has been a very difficult year.

“Regrettably, in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos State.

READ ALSO: Sanwo-Olu cautions religious bodies over covid-19 variants

“From the beginning of July, we started to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1 percent at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6 percent as at July 8, 2021. The rapid increase within a week gives great cause for concern.

“Also, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at our isolation centres increased from an average of 1 percent to 6 percent. This is the new and disturbing reality that now confronts us.

“But we must not be demoralized by this. We must instead resolve that we will not leave any stone unturned in our bid to effectively mitigate the third wave of this pandemic in Lagos. As you all know, Lagos has been the epicentre of the pandemic since the start, and the way we manage it here has a significant impact and reverberating effect on the national outlook and outcomes.

“We will continue to test aggressively. We will also focus on sequencing the samples we are collecting to ensure we are detecting and keeping track of the different variants in circulation. It is only by testing and sequencing comprehensively that we can collect the data required for informed decision-making.”

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