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General News of Wednesday, 4 August 2021

Source: www.sunnewsonline.com

17 corps members admitted for coronavirus treatment in Edo

NYSC members NYSC members

No fewer than 17 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members deployed to Edo State have been admitted to the Stella Obasanjo Hospital in Benin City for COVID-19 treatment.

Personal Assistant to Edo State Coordinator of the NYSC scheme, Mr Ozeto Waheed, who disclosed this said the 17 corps members were tested and found to be positive upon arrival at the programme camp.

“When prospective corps members report, they are expected to be tested at the gate and anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is usually taken to the isolation centre for further confirmation,” he said.

Waheed spoke at an event where Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Osagie Ebomwonyi, took  Governor Godwin Obaseki on a tour of the state’s infectious disease isolation centre located in the hospital.

Ebomwonyi said though the confirmed NYSC cases were not among persons vaccinated, the hospital was conducting studies and analysis to find out if there was the Delta variant of Coronavirus in the state.

Obaseki, however, assured of the readiness of the government to deal effectively with the Delta variant, saying there was no confirmed case of the deadly variant of the virus in the state.

“We are beginning to see an increasing number of cases of the Delta variant in the country; this has become worrisome, hence the need to undertake a thorough analysis and study of the situation and use the data and information collected to make decisions. One of the decisions to be made is the nature and preparation of facilities to receive patients for treatment in case we find ourselves in a difficult situation. The Delta variant is very contagious and spreads very wide, with a greater impact on those that are yet to be vaccinated.

“We are here at this centre to check the readiness of the facilities and the availability of oxygen, as well as ensure that we have all it takes to move 100 patients for treatment,” the governor said.

He disclosed that as part of the effort to vaccinate more Edo people in order to protect them from the deadly virus, he spoke with the National Primary Healthcare Agency last week on the issue.

He said the plane conveying about four million vials of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines should be landing in Abuja, if it hasn’t already, adding that the government was making arrangements to go and pick up its own consignment to vaccinate more people.