Gbenro Adesina
The Oyo State government, on Thursday March 19, 2020 allayed the fears of residents of the state on the coronavirus pandemic, declaring that there is no confirmed case of the disease in the state yet.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Bashir Bello, who stated this at a press conference maintained that following the confirmed cases of the virus in neighbouring states, all facilities in the state are on high alert and that resources have been deployed to facilities in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Bello urged the state’s residents not to panic over the recently confirmed case of a coronavirus victim in Ekiti State, who was said to have transited through Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He stated that contact-tracing has already begun, adding that the surveillance system has already been set up in the state.
He maintained that the individual who was said to have transited through Ibadan did not actually stay in a hotel but at a private residence, which has already been identified by the surveillance officers of the Ministry of Health.
The Commissioner said: “I am here today to further address the unfortunate incidence of the confirmation of cases of coronavirus in Nigeria. The Oyo State Ministry of Health has continued to follow the unravelling of the outbreak. Since its outbreak in December 2019, over 170,000 cases and 7,000 deaths have been reported across over 150 countries of the world. So, at this point, the Ministry of Health wishes to inform the general public that despite the report of several cases of coronavirus in the country, our Ministry is committed towards ensuring a disease-free Oyo State. This is particularly important because these cases have been in neighbouring states. The Oyo State Ministry of Health would like to reassure the public that our surveillance system has been activated and contact-tracing is on-going”.
The Commissioner put out the following mobile numbers: 08038210122, 07032067763, 08023229267 and 08073431342 as emergency numbers to call in case of symptoms related with coronavirus.
