Delta State government on Monday reiterated again that the state is free from the coronavirus pandemic.
The state commissioner for information, Mr Charles Aniagwu said at a press conference in Asaba that people were carrying rumours on the health status of the state, adding that merely having a health condition like running nose does not amount to COVID-19.
The commissioner spoke against the backdrop of a woman rushed to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara in an ambulance from Ekpan, near Warri.
Nigerian Tribune reports that an anonymous person had called the state central committee on COVID-19 after the woman developed a fever.
According to him, some persons who saw the movement of the woman took to the social media that she was suffering from coronavirus without any verifications.
“That an ambulance is carrying someone to the hospital does not suggest that the person is a coronavirus patient.
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“If there is any confirmed case in the state, the committee will make it known to the world,” he explained.
While appealing to residents of the state not to raise unnecessary alarm by misinforming the public, the commissioner said the rumour peddler had apologised for the video that went viral.
Mr Aniagwu explained that efforts are in gear to monitor persons who arrived the state from high-risk countries or states, adding that they were been asked to go into self-isolation.
He announced that the state had acquired 19 ventilators that could be deployed in case of any eventuality and personal protective equipment for health workers.
He commended the Federal Government for shutting down Lagos and Ogun States but reasoned that the order should be extended to other states for the fight against the spread of the virus to be more effective.
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