Connect with us

Politics

Despite reports, Obaseki claims ‘no Indian variant’ of COVID-19 virus in Edo

Published

on

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has refuted reports about the presence of the Indian variant of the COVID-19 virus in the state.

Obaseki made this assertion on Thursday during a press conference to provide an update on the state’s COVID-19 response.

The governor said “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.”

According to him, the Federal Government is instituting measures to ensure the new variant of COVID-19 doesn’t enter into the country.

This was evidenced by the restrictions placed on international travel from India, Brazil, and Turkey while strengthening surveillance at all entry points into the country.

Read also: Edo govt warns hoteliers, others over covid-19 protocols

“As a 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,” the governor noted.

According to him, “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 persons, especially school children in Edo, is low, dropped by 18.5 per cent comparatively for the first and second wave, most of which are asymptomatic in presentation but they pose risk for spread to older persons.

The governor 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.

By Mayowa Oladeji…

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now