Delta COVID-19 Index case has been in the State for couple of weeks Now – Gov. Okowa Reveals

• Says case not a govt official

Without necessarily disclosing the identity of the COVID-19 index case in Delta that was announced by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has disclosed that the patient had been in the state for a couple of weeks.

This is just as the governor stated that the index case wasn’t a government official as being rumoured across the state.

Addressing the state on Wednesday morning in Asaba, Okowa, who was asked to throw more lights on the index case, said the process of tracking the people the patient had contact with was already ongoing.

He, however, stated that it remained the right of the patient to disclose his or her identity to the public or do otherwise.

“The case has been in Delta for some weeks now. He didn’t just come into the state. We’re tracking those he had contact with and getting more information about the case.

“It’s the right of the person to disclose or inform the public if he so wishes and not necessarily me,” the governor noted.

He warned Deltans to desist from spreading rumours, especially on the social media, adding that the insinuation that a member of the Delta State House of Assembly is the index case was untrue.

Okowa, however, opined that he did not mean a member of his government could not contract the virus but insisted that none has been tested positive even though contracting it isn’t a death sentence.

While expressing the preparedness of his government to tackle the menace head on, he appealed to private hospital operators to report cases showing symptoms of the pandemic to the appropriate quarters for proper screening.

He also warned them against divulging suspected cases to the public without first referring such to the appropriate quarters, saying it is unlawful for private hospitals to keep such information to themselves.

The governor, who thanked all donors to the food bank and COVID-19 purse of the state, disclosed that the state would soon roll out face masks locally produced in the state for free distribution to the public.

He added that in a matter of days, too, the food bank would be moved to the most vulnerable and poor in communities in the state for distribution.

The governor urged all residents on the state to adhere to all the measures against contracting the virus especially social distancing and regular washing of hands.

It will recalled the NCĎC late Tuesday announced additional cases of 16 in which Delta State got its index case totalling 254 cases so far in the country.

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