Edo declares COVID-19 patient wanted, extends curfew by 14 days

The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has declared wanted, a nursing mother, Mrs Amaka Okoro, who tested positive for coronavirus with her baby.

The Governor, on Thursday, also extended by another 14 days the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on the state 10 days ago.

Speaking at a media briefing in Benin, Obaseki said, “Since my last public update about 10 days ago, I am here to inform you that we have made tremendous progress.

“Working closely with public and private hospitals, we have screened about 20,000 people and tested 297 citizens. This increased screening and testing is the reason for the increased number of cases in the state.

“We are aggressively pushing to screen our minimum target of about 500,000 people and test about one per cent of them, which is about 5,000 in the next few weeks.”

The governor added that out of the 20,000 people screened and the 297 samples taken, 37 confirmed cases were recorded.

He said out of the 37 confirmed cases, eight patients recovered and had been discharged while the viral disease claimed three lives.

Declaring Okoro wanted for treatment, the governor said the woman tested positive for COVID-19 and her baby was already coughing.

Obaseki said, “She lives at 2 Atoe Idubor Street, Benin City. She has been unreachable since her results returned positive.”