The Edo Government on Monday in Benin announced the discharge of the seventh person to be found suffering from coronavirus in the state.
Gov. Godwin Obaseki, who made the announcement in a statement, said the seventh discharged patient was the index case in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the patient, who had tested negative twice for the virus, was cleared from one of the isolation centres in the state.
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Obaseki said Edo has with the development now recorded a 50 per cent recovery rate for admitted patients being managed in facilities across the state.
“Another COVID-19 patient, who is the index case in Edo, has tested negative for the second time consecutively. He has now been discharged to reunite with his family.
“This brings to seven the number of patients successfully managed and discharged from our isolation facilities. We have now recorded a 50 per cent recovery rate for patients being managed in our facilities.”
Meanwhile, the state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Patrick Okundia, has urged residents to support the government’s efforts at containing the virus by making themselves available for the ongoing massive screening across the state.
He told newsmen that prompt detection was a necessary factor in the fight against the spread of the infectious disease.
“Screening facilities (questionnaire-based) have been set up in six Primary Health Care (PHC) centres and four private health facilities in Oredo Local Government Area (LGA), and a scale-up across the 18 LGAs of Edo is being worked out.
“The government encourages everyone with symptoms of the disease to come out for the screening, testing and treatment as early detection complements efforts at containing the virus and increases the chances of survival.
“All citizens of Edo State are hereby encouraged to abide strictly with government’s directives on social distancing, use of face mask in public, regular handwashing with soap under running water or using alcohol-based sanitisers, cough etiquette and compliance with the stay-at-home order.
“Two toll-free lines for COVID-19 response have been introduced by the state government to strengthen the initial lines from the State Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which were distributed at the beginning of the outbreak.
“So, if you have any COVID-19 symptoms, please call 08001235111 or 08002200110 for assistance,” Okundia added.