No record of Indian COVID-19 variant in Edo – Obaseki

Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki has said there was no record of Indian COVID-19 variant in Edo as being speculated on social media.

The governor, who spoke on Friday during a press conference to provide an update on the state’s COVID-19 response, said “there is currently no update or report suggestive of any such occurrence or new case of COVID-19 reported within Edo in the past 96 hours.”

Obaseki, represented by the permanent secretary, Ministry of Health, Osamwonyi Irowa, further hailed Edo people for their cooperation with various strategies put in place by the government to contain the pandemic.

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He said the Federal Government, as part of efforts to ensure the new variant of COVID-19 doesn’t enter into the country, had on April 26, 2021, taken precautionary steps by restricting international travel from India, Brazil and Turkey while strengthening surveillance at all entry points into the country.

“As the government, we have reached out to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) with regards to any Indian variant in Edo and the verified information reveals that the said sample was collected in January 2021,” the governor noted.