Edo State has recorded 36 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), as the government intensifies efforts to contain the third wave of the pandemic and protect citizens.
The State COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr. Andrew Obi, disclosed this after the daily virtual meeting of the State COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by the State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki.
Obi said all is set for the commencement of the second phase vaccination rollout, noting that Edo anticipates the arrival of the 65,020 doses of Moderna (mRNA) vaccines approved for the state by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
According to him, “Edo, in the last 24 hours, recorded 36 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and zero recoveries, with a test positivity rate of 13.8 percent and 59 percent rise in active cases. The 36 new cases were confirmed from the 260 samples collected within the 24-hour time frame.
“11 of the newly confirmed cases were reported from Edo Specialist Hospital (ESH) laboratory; eight cases were confirmed at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) laboratory; three from Lily Hospital laboratory, while the remaining 14 were confirmed from rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) across the state.”
Noting that over 95 percent of newly confirmed cases are those who were never vaccinated, Obi charged citizens to leverage on the opportunity of the second phase vaccination exercise to get inoculated, as it is the only safe way of beating the deadly virus.
He noted that the government has intensified COVID-19 active case search and contact tracing, as well as targeted sample collection and testing activities in the state’s 18 local councils, as part of efforts to contain the pandemic across all Edo communities.
