TheCable

The Edo state government has declared one Amara Okoro, a nursing mother, wanted after she tested positive for COVID-19 and became unreachable.

Speaking on Thursday during a press briefing in Benin City, the state capital, Godwin Obaseki, governor of the state, said Okoro’s baby has already started coughing, and urged those with useful information about her whereabouts to report to the relevant security and health agencies.

The governor also extended the dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state by 14 days, effective from Thursday, as part of renewed measures to halt the spread of the virus.

He added that the government has decided to commence another round of distribution of relief materials to most vulnerable persons to reduce the economic hardship.

“I am extending the curfew in Edo State for another 14 days from 8pm to 6am. With the lessons which we have learnt from the first round of distribution, measures have been put in place to make sure that only the targeted persons receive these palliatives,” he said.

“Since my last public update on the pandemic about 10 days ago, I am here to inform you that we have made tremendous progress especially in the areas of screening, testing and improved awareness of the citizens about the virus.

“Working closely with private hospitals, clinics and pharmacists, we have been able to screen over 20,000 people and tested 297 residents. The increased screening and testing is the reason for the increase in the number of positive cases. We are aggressively pushing to screen our minimum target of 500,000 persons and test about 1 percent of that, which is about 5,000 residents in the next few weeks.

“As we increase testing, we are likely to see rise in the number of cases from Edo State. Of the over 20,000 persons we have screened, and the 297 samples which we have collected for testing, we have recorded 37 confirmed cases as at today, discharged nine persons and unfortunately lost three people.

Obaseki also announced the approval of an additional hazard allowance ranging from N90,000 to N300,000 per month for all health workers involved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

The Borno state government had declared two patients wanted on Sunday but they turned themselves in 24 hours later.