How Ondo plans to address COVID-19 as neighbour, Ekiti, confirms first case
As the Nigerian government continues to lead the national response and roll out measures to combat COVID-19, the bold statements from some governors who have announced their plans has shown that states are also not folding their arms. Ondo joined other states to reveal how it is putting all hands on deck in its response.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in a statewide broadcast, on Thursday evening, ordered the closure of all primary, and secondary schools, as well as all tertiary institutions as a measure to forestall the spread of coronavirus in the state.
Ondo has no confirmed case, but its closest neighbour, Ekiti State, confirmed its first case on Wednesday – a 38-year-old man of Ekiti origin who had contact with a U.S national who visited Nigeria. The U.S national has since been confirmed dead.
Not long after the news of COVID-19 case in Ekiti filtered into Ondo, it started creating panic among residents while some started speculating that the virus has killed one person in Ondo. Akeredolu addressed the misinformation in his statewide broadcast to douse growing tension among the residents. “I wish to stress that no death has been recorded in Ondo state on account of corona virus so far. The situation as at today is that a suspected case is under intense observation and comprehensive test,” he assured his people.
Aside shutting schools which Akeredolu said “is to harvest our children into the safety net for proper monitoring and care,” other measures the state is taking included: “Equipping the state infectious disease hospital as a treatment center for the disease and upgrading the state disease surveillance network to be able to identify cases and ensure proper community surveillance roll out a sustained media campaign on the COVID-19 infection.”
To further strengthen the state’s capacity to respond effectively to the emergency, the state has also set up a high level inter-ministerial committee to coordinate state’s response to the COVID-19 challenge.
