COVID-19: Panic in Bayelsa as infection spreads to two more LGAs

Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

There is uneasy calm in Bayelsa State as the COVID-19 infection spreads to the Southern Ijaw and Ogbia Local Government Areas of the state.

This is just as the state witnessed a spike in infection with 27 new cases confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) bringing total active cases to 117.

The total number of cases confirmed in the case is 155, 29 have been discharged while nine deaths have been recorded.

According to investigations Yenagoa the capital situated in Yenagoa Local Government Area remains the epicentre of the infection in the state and the two active isolation centres at Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) are situated there.

Findings revealed that officials of the State Task Force on COVID-19 are making frantic moves to float another isolation centre the FMC Yenagoa extension at Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area.

It was gathered that Bayelsa State Government officials are increasingly worried over the non-compliance with safety measures by residents of the state especially in churches which lead to the sealing of some churches.

However Governor Douye Diri who came under immense pressure from Christian religious leaders after a meeting buckled and directed the state task force on COVID-19 to unseal the churches and imposed fresh guidelines to stop the spread of the infection in the state.

Diri who had expressed concern over the spike in the number of infections in the state had cancelled all mid-week services and gatherings at home-cells

Sources said members of the state task force are frustrated that despite all the proactive steps the number keeping increasing.