Efforts by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led state government to flatten the curve of the third wave of coronavirus (COVID-19) are steadily yielding gains as case positivity and mortality rates in Edo have continued to decline, while active cases in the state have dropped to 55.

The Head of Edo State COVID-19 Case Management, Dr. Osagie Ebomwonyi disclosed this during the daily virtual meeting of the State COVID-19 Taskforce, chaired by Obaseki.

A statement quoted Ebomwonyi to have said the state, as part of increased efforts to contain the pandemic, had intensified the vaccination of more citizens with the COVID-19 vaccines, ensuring that all stakeholders participate in the process of improving vaccination uptake to achieve herd immunity and protect the people against the virus.

According to him, “Edo, in the last one week, has collected 675 samples and confirmed 41 new cases, two deaths, and 45 discharges, with a case positivity rate of 6.1 percent. We have now confirmed 1,978 cases and recorded 93 deaths and 1,694 discharges, with 55 active cases that are being managed at various treatment and isolation centres in the state.”

The case manager who noted that the state has collected over 19, 271 samples for testing since the outbreak of the pandemic, charged citizens to desist from submitting wrong information, including names, addresses and phone contacts, during sample collection and testing.

Ebomwonyi said the state’s COVID-19 team has been unable to reach about 147 persons who were recently tested due to wrong phone numbers and addresses, adding that the figure represents eight percent of the 1823 contacts listed.

Reiterating the need for residents to embrace the vaccination exercise to get full protection against the virus, he stated, “we urge everyone to complement the government’s efforts by getting vaccinated and complying with all non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain the virus because it is the safest way to defeat the pandemic.”