A COVID-19 patient who fled Delta State isolation and treatment centre to Enugu State has been arrested and sent back to Delta. Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, directed the arrest and repatriation of the patient to Delta.
The Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ike Obi, said the state rapid response team on COVID-19 and the security network acted in line with the executive order from the governor. Dr Obi in a statement issued yesterday, said that their team “in a coordinated sequence of events with the Delta State COVID-19 taskforce, moved swiftly yesterday, detected, contained and returned a confirmed COVID-19 case who had escaped from an Isolation and Treatment Centre in Delta State to Enugu.
“Consequently, contact tracing and decontamination has commenced immediately. For record purposes, total cases ever detected in Enugu State remain eight, with six active cases receiving treatment.
The Enugu State Ministry of Health, therefore, reminds the good people of Enugu State that in times like these, we owe a responsibility to each other to inform relevant authorities when we develop symptoms or know someone who may have symptoms or history of cross boundaries travel into the state.”
The Commissioner also reminded residents of the state on the need to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 restriction orders and other precautionary measures in the state, which remain in force until further notice, as earlier announced.
Obi said that all inter-state land boundaries remain closed except for medical emergencies and movement of essential goods and services, while the Presidential directive on compulsory use of face masks or covering in public and the overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am had taken effect from May 4.
Also yesterday, there was apprehension among residents of Akure in Ondo State over the discovery of 19 almajiris from the northern part of the country at the Oyemekun axis of Akure.
According to sources, the almajiris were dumped at the Dangote Cement Depot in Akure on Monday night where they were found yesterday. Residents of the area who said they kept watch over the visitors when they noticed their presence in the area alleged that the almajiris were transported to Akure in one of the trucks owned by the Dangote Cement. It was gathered that they had travelled to the state from Sokoto State despite the shutdown of borders across the state.
Despite being stained with cement dust, one of the Almajiris who gave his name as Garba said they arrived at the state on a bus from Sokoto State.