Three more unvaccinated persons die from COVID-19 in Edo

• Death toll rises to 33
• A’Ibom govt, NEMA donate relief materials to 716 families

Again, Edo State has recorded an increase in the number of deaths of persons who have not been vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic, as it confirmed three more deaths from the virus.

This brought the total number of fatalities in the third wave of the pandemic to 33.

Incident Manager of the State COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Andrew Obi, disclosed this after its daily virtual meeting presided over by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Obi said the state also recorded 49 new COVID-19 cases from the 365 samples collected in the last 24 hours, noting that the state has recorded 889 confirmed cases since the outbreak of the third wave of the pandemic.

Lamenting the rise in the number of infections and deaths from the virus, Obi restated the need for all residents to get vaccinated and comply with non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the pandemic, including compulsory use of face masks in public places and regular hand washing under running water, among others.

He urged Edo citizens to leverage the opportunity of the second phase vaccination to get full protection against the COVID-19 virus, insisting that vaccination remained the safest and most effective means to contain the pandemic.

“In the last 24 hours, Edo State has recorded three more COVID-19-related deaths and 49 new confirmed cases, with a case positivity rate of 13.4 per cent.

“We also recorded 10 recoveries, with 614 actives cases being managed in various treatment and isolation centres across the state,” he stated.

Noting that the government has intensified vaccination of residents in the 18 councils of the state, Obi said Edo has inoculated over 56,724 persons since the commencement of the second phase vaccination.

He said 50,430 persons were vaccinated with Moderna, while 6,294 others were inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccines.

Obi, who said only 38 of the 889 confirmed cases have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccines, charged all residents, who have been administered with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to take the second dose for full protection against the virus.

“Others, who have not been vaccinated are encouraged to get the vaccination. The vaccines are safe, free and effective,” he said.