TheCable

The Edo government says 171 COVID cases and three deaths have been recorded in the state, amid the third wave of the pandemic.

Andrew Obi, the state incident manager, said this on Friday after a virtual meeting of the COVID-19 taskforce, chaired by Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo.

The development comes weeks after the federal government declared that Nigeria was experiencing a third wave of infections.

Speaking on the development in Edo, Obi said 22 new cases were recorded in the state within the last 24 hours, which raised the total number of confirmed infections in the third wave to 171.

He noted that Edo also recorded two more recoveries from the virus, while 174 more samples have been collected for testing.

“Edo state, within the last 24 hours, recorded 22 new cases, two more recoveries and one new COVID-19 related death, which brings to 171 the total number of confirmed cases, with three deaths in the third wave of the pandemic,” he said.

While giving the assurance of the state’s commitment to containing the pandemic across all communities, Obi urged residents to support the government by leveraging on the opportunity of the second phase vaccination exercise.

He said over 95 percent of the newly confirmed cases are those who were never vaccinated, adding that “this is a clear indication that the vaccines provide significant protection against the virus”.

“We must all come out and encourage others to get vaccinated so as to stay healthy and alive, as well as complement the government’s efforts to totally defeat the pandemic,” Obi said.

Noting the government’s readiness ahead of the rollout of the vaccines, the incident manager added that the state has completed the training of healthcare providers involved in the vaccination of citizens across the 18 local councils of the state.

Obi, however, charged residents not to disregard the state’s preventive protocol against the spread of the virus.

So far, Edo has recorded a total of 5,081 COVID cases — including 187 deaths — according to data by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).