Lagos local council reacts to reports on alleged widespread cases of COVID-19

The Chairman of Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos, Mr. Valentine Buraimoh, on Saturday dismissed reports on the alleged widespread cases of COVID-19 in the area as misinformation and outright falsehood.

Buraimoh, who made the clarification in a statement, urged the residents of the area to disregard the reports.

The council chairman was responding to claims on WhatsApp platforms that there are widespread cases of COVID-19 in the area.

The statement read: “My attention has been drawn to an audio-recorded report that has been circulating from an unauthorized source about the alarming number of COVID-19 positive cases in Amuwo Odofin LGA. It has become mandatory to make this address and official statement for the overall benefit and safety of our people.

“Firstly, the person that made and released the audio recording in question is not an authorized member of staff of the local government neither is she an official of NCDC (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control). Although she was engaged as ad-hoc personnel by the NCDC to work on a active case search in Amuwo Odofin local government area.

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“The interview of the active case search was to identify people with symptoms similar to COVID-19 in Lagos State. These identified persons are subsequently being screened to determine the number of positive cases

“The recorded voice message is completely not in tandem with the purpose of the active case search, which is to identify people with symptoms to enable them to qualify for screening and to know the number of positive COVID-19 patients in the LGA.”

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