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Oyo govt confirms 10 COVID-19 deaths, warns new virus variant may be deadly

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Ten COVID-19 fatalities have been recorded in Oyo State bringing total number of deaths in the state to 104 since the outbreak of the pandemic according to figures provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The update provided by the NCDC also revealed that Oyo state recorded no fewer than 124 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to 6248.

The figures were confirmed in a statement issued on Saturday by the Coordinator, Oyo State COVID-19 Isolation Centres, Prof. Temitope Alonge, who warned residents of the state that early evidence indicated that the new variants of the virus may be more deadly.

According to him, with the new variants of SARS-CoV-2, (the virus that causes COVID-19), patients may not show symptoms of the virus before they succumb to severe illness or even death.

READ ALSO: Oyo to engage producers of Covid-19 vaccine, says FG allocation inadequate

“Absolutely, we need to do a thorough examination even when there are no symptoms, with this current wave the symptoms don’t even last long before some patients succumb.

“You know with the original virus, it is protracted, but this time around even without a marked failure of the organs, the failure is very acute, which is over a very short period of time.

“We think this is a reflection of the so-called new variants that people have.

“So, it means that we have a new variant that is more virulent and the damage can be done over a shorter period of time.

“It’s not only the infectivity rate that is rapid, but the damage to the organs can also be far shorter than the old variant.

“These are suspicions, though, we cannot prove them a 100 per cent. “But, at least, we are now doing a lot of research.

“At Olodo, when a patient comes, we have a baseline investigation which includes the electrolyte, the urine and the full blood count.

“We are looking beyond the presentation of the virus, we are looking at all the parameters that can be deranged to improve clinical outcomes,’’ he said.

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