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Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Nineteen more staff of an organisation in Ibadan South West Local Government Area of Oyo State have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of infected people in the same company to 57.
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who is the Chairman of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force, gave the update in an early Tuesday morning tweet.
The total number of confirmed cases in the state has risen to 137.
Governor Makinde had on May 16th announced that 30 staff of the same company tested positive for COVID-19 in Ibadan, and on May 17th, he made it public that additional eight staff of the same company have been infected, making a total of 38, before the infected cases jumped to 57 based on the announcement of 19 more staff of the same company in the update of Monday, May 18th.
According to the governor, “the COVID-19 confirmation tests for 19 suspected cases came back positive. All 19 of these cases are from the same organisation referred to in the update of May 16 and 17, 2020. So, the total number of confirmed cases in Oyo State is 137.
‘We urge the following categories of people who have not already done so, to register with the Emergency Operations Centre on 08095394000 | 08095863000 | 08078288999 | 08078288800, for the ongoing drive-through/walk-through testing at Adamasingba Stadium:
‘People who believe they could have come in contact with a COVID-19 case in Oyo State; People with COVID-19 symptoms: cough, fever, tiredness, body ache and shortness of breath; healthcare workers who have been in contact with the high-risk groups, above.
‘Also, please call the Emergency Operations Centre on 08095394000 | 08095863000 | 08078288999 | 08078288800, if you find travellers from other states arriving in your community.’
Governor Makinde had on Monday said during a press conference that the details of the company in Ibadan South West Local Government Area, where 57 COVID-19 cases have so far been confirmed within three days, would be unveiled on Tuesday May 19, 2020
‘We have held back from revealing the name of the company so as to allow the Emergency Operations Centre gather intelligence and complete their investigation. So, they will be done by tomorrow (Tuesday) and we will be able to give you that information so that any person who has visited the company recently will be able to present themselves for testing.’
The governor also stated that the state is currently in an accelerated phase in the transmission of COVID-19, which would make the state not to relax at the moment its directive on social distancing that led to a ban placed on religious gatherings towards preventing the spread of COVID-19.
He explained that experts have advised ‘that transmission occurs more easily in enclosed spaces. So we cannot at this time relax this directive. However, the experts are carrying out a risk situation analysis and will be sending in their report before the end of May and this will determine our next steps.
‘Regarding our directives on social distancing during this pandemic, the government has received requests from religious leaders about relaxing the ban on gatherings to allow religious services to hold. We will be meeting with religious leaders before the end of this week to see how and when reopening of religious places will be possible.’
