Breaking: Ogun ‘discharges’ third Coronavirus patient, begins lockdown

The Ogun state government has disclosed that the 62-year-old patient of Coronavirus in the state would be discharged from the Isolation centre.

Governor Dapo Abiodun who disclosed this, Friday evening while addressing journalists at his residence in Iperu, Remo area of the state, said the patient who recently returned from the United Kingdom (UK) has tested negative for Coronavirus twice on Friday.

The patient which was the third case in the state was on Tuesday, March 24 taken into Isolation at the Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu after testing positive for the virus.

Governor Abiodun, said, “The cumulative number of confirmed cases in Ogun state is just four, out of which two have been discharged.”

“As a matter of fact, just before I started this address, I was informed that the third person has just also tested negative twice, so, he will be discharged this (Friday) evening.”

He said the state would commence the implementation of the federal government’s lockdown order by 11pm on Friday, warning that anyone caught violating the order would be dealt with by the law.

The governor however added that the lockdown would be relaxed for seven hours every other day, starting from Tuesday, April 7 to allow for essential economic activities, including buying and selling of food items.

He said the state has acquired additional 12 ventilators in addition to the 10 the immediate past Governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, acquired while the General Overseer of the Redeem Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, donated two, bringing the total number of ventilators in the state to 24.

Governor Abiodun also said the state had also concluded plans to set up a molecular laboratory to enable the state carry test out on contacts of COVID-19.

“In the next few day, the state will have its own molecular laboratory, this laboratory, we have acquired and he would allow for us to be able to test for our patients right here in Ogun state.

“Presently, what we do is when we take the swabs, we sent the swabs to either Lagos or Ede which has recently come up.

“But the truth is that the result, the turn around for this test could take between three to five days and during that period the period would have been very apprehensive and also the chances of contact infection, and also the faster you are able to test, the faster you are able to identity those that are likely to be positive of negative.

“Hopefully by this weekend to Monday, our molecular laboratory which is probably the first state acquired laboratory in this country, not donated to the state should be in place, which will minimise the anxiety of screened patients and their families,” he said.

Speaking on the stimulus packages for the residents, Abiodun said no fewer than 500, 000 beneficiaries would enjoin the packages meant to cushion the effect of the lockdown.

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