Edo traces 63 suspected coronavirus cases to nine LGAs

Edo State government says it is tracing 63 suspected coronavirus cases to nine local government areas in the state.

Patrick Okundia, the state commissioner for Health, made the disclosure while speaking to journalists in Benin City.

Okundia gave the breakdown of the nine local government areas and the number of suspected cases to include Oredo (28), Esan West (11), Egor (5), Esan Central (6), Ikpoba-Okha (5), Esan North East (3), Etsako West (2), Ovia North East (2), Owan West (1).

The commissioner, who disclosed that there were 63 suspected cases, 97 persons of interest (POIs) and over 250 contacts, added that the state has recorded 11 confirmed cases spread across four local government areas of Edo including Oredo, Esan West, Egor, and Ovia North East.

According to him, Oredo LGA has four cases, Esan West two, while Egor and Ovia North East have two and one, respectively.

The commissioner, who decried the level of compliance among residents, noted that the neglect was responsible for the new cases recorded in the state.

He, however, appealed to residents in the state to support the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration’s efforts at curtailing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) by complying with all guidelines of the government, including the stay-at-home and social distancing directives.

“As the state government steps up efforts to curtail the spread of the virus, residents must complement the efforts of the government by complying with the guidelines and other basic precautionary measures to stop further spread of the infectious disease,” he said.

“On behalf of the Edo State government, I am once again appealing to you all my fellow citizens to support this administration as we combat this common enemy. As a government, we are fully ready to handle confirmed cases recorded in our state but we know that the best way to fight this is prevention.

“Also, do well to report anyone with overseas travel history. This has become imperative as we have witnessed recent increase of confirmed cases in quite a short while, which is attributable to the negligence of these orders, especially the stay-at-home order,” the commissioner further said.