According to the
governor, Lagos was prepared to curb the spread of COVID-19 but had to wait for
the Federal Government to shut airport, seaport and land borders.
Lagos State
governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the delayed closure of the country’s
borders, seaport and airports, including the failure of returnees to
self-isolate, caused the spread of COVID-19.
He said this during
an Instalive interview with CNN on Wednesday.
According to the
governor, Lagos was prepared to curb the spread of COVID-19 but had to wait for
the Federal Government to shut airport, seaport and land borders.
The PUNCH reports
that though Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 death on February 27, President
Muhammadu Buhari officially shut the country’s airports, seaports, and borders
on March 29.
As of March 29 when
the President shut the country’s airports, seaports, and borders, Nigeria had
recorded 111 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one death.
When asked about the
state’s preparedness, Sanwo-Olu said, “Given the population that we have, we
are a bit ahead in terms of preparation, as a state, but we are sub-national.
We couldn’t give directives as to when Nigeria should close the airport,
seaport, or in-land border.
“We don’t have
control over that. We were just wrapping up our own facilities and the training
officials, and that was why we were able to track the index case over two
months now.
“In the country, 33
or 34 states have had one case or the other. For us, it is a double X thing.
The population is huge, so we will be a fool of ourselves to just think that it
is going to be a spike and we will be out of it. Because we did not close all
of the importations early and people were not also doing full isolation when
they came, it was really difficult for us to do contact tracing before it got
to the community – which is where we are now.”
The governor also
reiterated that Lagos may be recording large cases “soon”, adding that over
7000 samples had been tested in the state.
He said, “We are
pretty much getting to the peak season. We will soon see a large number because
testing is now wrapped up. It is a public health issue and we needed to take
our protocols from NCDC and other international organisations.
“Testing kits were
rationalised and we could not do more than we were given. Even the
accreditation requires processes. We have learnt it now and we are applying
it.”
Meanwhile, the
state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said Lagos had recorded 947
confirmed COVID-19 cases.
He said, “87 new
#COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Lagos on April 29, 2020. The total number of
confirmed cases in Lagos is now 947.
“The good news is
that 49 additional #COVID-19 survivors have been discharged following their
full recovery. The total number of discharged patients in Lagos now stands at
187.
“We regret to
announce additional #COVID19 related death involving a 25-year-old male who at
the time of admission was in a state of severe breathlessness. The total number
of COVID-19 related deaths in Lagos is now 20.
“I again urge Lagos
residents to remain committed to observing necessary precautionary measures to
stop COVID-19 infection. Let’s be vigilant and report any concern about
COVID-19 infection in our communities.”
However, the Nigeria
Centre for Disease Control on Wednesday announced that Lagos had recorded 21
fatalities from COVID-19.
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