Good evening. It’s good to be back as the Head of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force. We have just finished our meeting. As you may be aware, I visited the Infectious Disease Centre at Olodo, on Monday and I must commend all those who have put in the effort to make it a reality.
Yesterday, the COVID-19 confirmation test for two suspected cases came back positive. One of the new cases is a 28-year-old woman who returned to the country from the United Arab Emirates on March 22, 2020. The second case is a 42-year-old man who is a contact of an earlier confirmed COVID-19 case.
The isolation process has been initiated, contact tracing and collection of samples have commenced. This brings the number of confirmed cases in Oyo State to eleven. Two cases have been discharged. So, there are nine active cases.
We have made arrangements to decontaminate the State Secretariat. This will take place next week between Monday, April 13 and Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Thereafter, the Secretariat will be reopened on Monday, April 20, 2020.
The team in charge of decontamination are sending letters to religious leaders, traditional rulers and private organisations to decontaminate their facilities using standardised decontaminants. We are also considering rapid testing at two additional centres to enable us map the behaviour of the virus in Oyo State.
The modelling of the state epidemiologist will help us decide the next step regarding the curfew and the reopening of schools. We will roll out palliatives for the poorest of the poor within a week.
We are also working on a law to make the wearing of masks in public compulsory, as one of the measures to slow down the spread of the virus.
Finally, we are also looking at local solutions to boost immunity based on expert opinion, as part of home-grown solutions to deal with COVID-19.
We appreciate all those who have donated to the State Endowment Fund for COVID-19. We have received about N200M in cash and various food items.