…Two more patients tests negative
On Monday night, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)announced that Enugu State has recorded three new cases of the COVID-19.
In a statement by the state ministry of health, the commissioner, Obi Emmanuel Ikechukwu noted that the three new cases entered Enugu State illegally during this ban on inter-state transportation. He went further to give more details of the patients as follows;
The first person (Case 13 in the state) is a 25 year old man from Ondo State who lives in Lagos and made his way first to Akwa Ibom, then to Rivers State and finally to Obollo Afor in Udenu LGA of Enugu State, all within the period of closure of all land boundaries and inter-state movement. He developed symptoms while at Obollo Afor, the health authorities were alerted, he was tested and his result came out positive.
The second person (Case 14 in the state) is a 38 year old male, from Okpuje in Nsukka LGA, who lives in Nassarawa State, and found his way back to Enugu State during the same period of lockdown.
On suspecting he may have contacted the virus, he initially went into self-quarantine in a hotel at Nsukka. He subsequently developed symptoms and alerted the health authorities. He was tested and his test result also came back positive.
The third person (Case 15 in the state) is a 28 year old female and a widow who hails from Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State and lives in Lagos State with her husband. She recently lost her husband in Lagos and was able to smuggle her husbands corpse back to Enugu State for burial, despite the lockdown in Lagos State and the national ban on inter-state movement . Her actions raised suspicion and the health authorities were alerted. She was subsequently tested and her result came back positive.
The Commissioner lamented that “these unfortunate figures are coming up as a result of individuals who have deliberately disobeyed the lockdown order and inter-state transportation as ordered by the Federal and State governments.”
Also, the State Ministry of Health disclosed that 2 more cases out of the previously active COVID-19 cases undergoing treatment in Enugu State have tested negative and are being assessed for discharge from the isolation and treatment centre.
The two cases that have tested negative are case number 5 and her daughter who is case number 9.
With this new positive development, Enugu State now has 9 active cases after 6 has been discharged out of the the total 15 cases.
Obi also advised the people to; “Comply strictly with all measures and regulations, restrain from behaviours that will put others at risk and continue to comply with the directives of the Federal and Enugu State governments on containment of the spread of COVID-19 as well as the precautionary measures in the public health advisory of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, and the Enugu State Ministry of Health.”
The best options remain:
Stay home when it is not necessary to go out.
Wear a facemask/covering whenever you must go out.
Keep a safe distance from other people at all times, which is social / physical distancing and avoid crowded places.
Practice good respiratory hygiene (when coughing or sneezing)
Clean surfaces with a 1 in 6 concentration of bleach and water.
Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds under running water as often as possible
And when facilities for hand washing are unavailable, sanitize your hands as often as possible using an alcohol based hand sanitizer.
