The coronavirus patient who tested positive in Ekiti on Wednesday and was among the 5 new cases reported in Nigeria was in Ibadan for two weeks, a report released by the Ekiti State government and was seen by OYOGist.com has revealed.
According to the report, the Ekiti index patient, 38, was a driver to a 27-year-old caucasian American Covid-19 patient accompanied by a Nigerian caregiver. The three were in Ibadan for 2 weeks. The American patient later died whilst in Ibadan and the driver – who tested positive – traveled to Ekiti afterward.
The implication of this is that there are now potential Covid-19 patients in Ibadan who could be positive with the disease without their own knowledge.
As governments across the country take measures to curb the spread of the virus in their various states, the Oyo State government as of the time of this report, 19th of March 2020 (7:40 am) – more than 12 hours after the report has been released, has yet to make an announcement to the people of Ibadan.
The Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Governer Seyi Makinde is also yet to make any concrete announcement in regards to the patient who spent two weeks in the capital city of his state.
The efforts of both the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Government and the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria, while highly-commendable, are rather reactive than proactive.
For instance, the Federal Government only decided to ban travel from 13 countries with high number of reported cases of the Covid-19 after 5 new cases were reported. This is even after Nigerians have called for the closure of the country’s borders months ago.
At that moment, shutting the entire airspace and land borders of the country temporarily would have been appropriate.
Much to the chagrin of Nigerians, the PDP, led by Governor Seyi Makinde in Oyo State conducted a rally, gathering people in their thousands in the public.
The government of Oyo State, led by the ever-able Governor Seyi Makinde, would do well to its good people to announce an immediate ban on public gatherings, and mandate citizens of the state to self-isolate for the next 14 days while the NCDC and Federal Ministry of Health trace the people the Ekiti coronavirus index case have made contact with during his 2 weeks stay in Ibadan.
Follow OYOGist.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for more updates ib coronavirus update.
