COVID-19: Sanwo-Olu Raises Alarm, Says Lagos Records 135 Deaths in Third Wave
- Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has urged the resident of the state to follow COVID-19 protocols religiously
- Sanwo-Olu made the plea on Monday, August 23, at State House, Alausa, while giving updates on the COVID-19 third wave
- According to him, the state government identified 5,998 Persons of Interest and had successfully isolated 4,500 of them
Alausa, Lagos - Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has confirmed the record of 135 fatalities in the current third wave of the pandemic in the state.
In a statement signed by the chief press secretary to the governor, Gboyega Akosile, and sent to Legit.ng, Sanwo-Olu said the havoc being wreaked by deadly strains of the virus spreads in the country.
Source: Original
The governor during a briefing on Monday, August 23, at the State House, Ikeja revealed that the state has taken the delivery of Moderna vaccine from the federal government.
Sanwo-Olu disclosed the State received a little above 300,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to boost the State drive towards achieving herd immunity.
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He added that the test positivity rate has also increased to 12.1% in the past weeks, compared to 7% recorded at the end of July.
The governor said this resulted from non-adherence to the laid-down health protocols designed to stop the spread of the pandemic.
Sanwo-Olu said the situation called for more responsibility, urging the residents to adhere to the preventive protocols put in place by the Government.
He said:
“We are now clearly in the middle of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and Lagos has remained the epicentre of the disease in Nigeria. Test positivity rate currently stands at 12.1 per cent, compared to 1.1% at the end of June, and seven per cent at end of July. As at August 21, 4,387 positive cases are currently being managed actively in-community.
“Over the course of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, about 5,551 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres in Lagos, with 506 registered fatalities. Of these deaths, 135 have sadly, happened in this current third wave. I commiserate with all residents who have lost loved ones to the pandemic. We share in your pain and grief. As a society and as a Government, it is for us to redouble our efforts to defeat this devastating pandemic.”
Sanwo-Olu said the increment in positive cases has also shot up oxygen demand at the Government-controlled isolation centres, with the State supplying 400 cylinders daily to patients with severe cases.
He added that the state would be ramping up its oxygen plants in the coming days, as he projected that the demand for oxygen may shoot up in the next few weeks.
The governor said Lagos would start the distribution of the first dose of Moderna vaccine across 150 centres set up in the state for the exercise. Increasing vaccination, the Governor said, will stem cases of fatalities, urging residents to get the vaccine.
He said:
“In terms of treatment of severe cases, we have seen a gradual increase in the uptake of oxygen during the current wave. Utilization has increased from 75 cylinders per day at the beginning of this third wave, to over 400 cylinders per day, currently. With our modelling suggesting that we may be requiring even more oxygen supply over the next few weeks, we are exploring several ways of increasing our oxygen capacity.
“One of the major pillars of our mitigation strategy for the third wave is vaccination. We are seeing that countries that have vaccinated a large percentage of their population are recording drastic reductions in the numbers of COVID-19 related deaths. This is one of the reasons why we have not spared any cost to ensure that the vaccines that have been provided by the Federal Government are made available to every resident that meets the requirements for the vaccination programme.”
NCDC release list of states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in 6 months
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said the nation recorded 1,149 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, August 18.
It was reported that the NCDC's daily updates showed that the case was the highest figure since February when Nigeria recorded 1,572 cases.
The agency's current chart reveals that Lagos, with 680 new cases, is the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria while 15 other states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), were also affected.
Source: Legit.ng
