Edo records 36 new cases of the third wave of coronavirus

The Edo State has recorded 36 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), as the government, increases efforts to contain the third wave of the pandemic and protect citizens.

The State COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr Andrew Obi, revealed this after the daily virtual meeting of the State COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by the State governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki.

According to Obi, all is set for the start of the second phase vaccination rollout, noting that Edo anticipates the arrival of the 65,020 doses of Moderna (mRNA) vaccines approved for the state by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

“Edo, in the last 24 hours, recorded 36 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and zero recoveries, with a test positivity rate of 13.8 per cent and 59 per cent rise in active cases. The 36 new cases were confirmed from the 260 samples collected within the 24-hour time frame.

“11 of the newly confirmed cases were reported from Edo Specialist Hospital (ESH) laboratory; eight cases were confirmed at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) laboratory; three from Lily Hospital laboratory, while the remaining 14 were confirmed from rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) across the state,” he said.

Noting that more than 95 per cent of newly confirmed cases are those who were never vaccinated, Obi encouraged citizens to leverage the opportunity of the second phase vaccination exercise to get inoculated, as it is the only safe way of fighting the deadly virus.