Ogun discharges six coronavirus patients

Ogun State government on Thursday announced the discharge of three coronavirus patients in the state.

“Great to announce we have discharged 6 persons in total, after they each twice tested negative to the COVID-19, out of the 9 total confirmed cases across the State,” the state governor Dapo Abiodun said on Twitter on Thursday.

“Of all 6 discharged persons, 3 were discharged between yesterday Wednesday, 15th April, 2020 and today, Thursday, 16th April.”

The governor further stated that the state is left with 3 active cases out of the nine confirmed cases.

Abiodun said the “test-and-trace strategy” the state adopted has so far yielded the identification of 210 contacts of suspected patients.

“We have discharged 110 who were observed within 14 days under quarantine, leaving 100 persons under observation,” Abiodun said.

He also noted that “to further enhance such response, the state has installed the first State-fully funded molecular laboratory in the Country which will become operational after the accreditation by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Abiodun said the ownership of another molecular lab will increase the state testing capacity to 1000 per day.

“These laboratories will function so effectively because we are also setting up testing booths in high-risk border areas around Lagos, and also mobile labs that will move around communities hosting patients so far confirmed, for possible close contacts, in areas including Ota, Ifo, Obafe and Sagamu,” Abiodun said.

Ogun has been on lockdown for more than two weeks. The lockdown directive was issued by President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Lagos State, which shares a border with Ogun, currently has the highest number of cases with 232 patients.

As of Wednesday night, 407 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Nigeria.