A total of 13 health workers in Delta State and a two-month-old baby are among those who have tested positive to Coronavirus (COVID-19) as the state’s confirmed cases rose to 116, Friday.
This is as the state government has revealed the identities of some of the victims of the pandemic, including the index case, Austin Eruotor, a titled chief, and the fourth case, Jerry Azinge, as they shared their experiences.
The state’s commissioner of health, Mordi Ononye, a medical doctor, who made the revelations at a news conference, disclosed that pediatricians were taking care of the affected baby, just as he expressed optimism that the baby would get better and be discharged.
He said that the state currently has 116 confirmed cases of the pandemic, with 31 discharged and 77 active cases.
He said that among the 116 cases were eight deaths representing seven percent fatality rate with 850 tests were conducted. He said 7,708 were received from the hot lines.
“We have investigated 850 suspects and at present, 13 health workers have been infected.
“No one should doubt that Covid-19 is real; there are confirmed cases in 13 local government areas of the state and 66 per cent of those affected are males while 34 per cent are females, with bed occupancy rate of 48 per cent,” Ononye said.
He affirmed the commitment of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration to curb the spread of the virus in the state and appealed to the media to assist in creating more awareness of the pandemic.
He disclosed that a lot of the patients still at the Isolation Centres were waiting to be discharged as they had been tested two times and found negative after treatment.
The Secretary to the State Government, Chiedu Ebie, announced that the curfew of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. imposed in the state by the government was still in force and urged Deltans to obey safety measures set by the government to check the spread of the virus.
“Covid-19 is real and you don’t need government to pursue you to obey set protocols; we ensure that boundaries across the state are monitored, though, it has not been an easy task because some people just want to flout government’s directives.
“The curfew is still in place from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. and I plead with all Deltans to obey the advice of government.
“I thank the private sector for their support which has come in different forms – cash, food items, medical consumables, among others, ” Ebie said.
While sharing their experiences, Eruotor and Azinge, index and fourth cases, disclosed that it was important for early diagnosis and for those affected to get early treatment as Covid-19 came in different forms and symptoms.
In his comment, Chairman, Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Augustine Uroye, appealed to the public not to stigmatise discharged patients of Covid-19, and commended the state government for commitment to the fight against the virus.
It would be recalled that the state’s total confirmed cases as at Thursday last week was 78. Observers believe that community transmission as well as inability of most people to observe COVID-19 safety measures may have contributed largely to the surging in the number of confirmed cases in the state.
