Kunle Adelabu
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Sunday (yesterday), expressed concern over the increasing cases of COVID – 19 cases in the state.
Sanwo-Olustated this while giving an update on the global pandemic situation in the state and ongoing response as a government.
He said that isolation centres in the state have recorded a five per cent increase in admission of COVID – 19 patients in two weeks.
“It has become imperative to once again provide you an update on the Coronavirus pandemic situation in Lagos State, and our ongoing response as a State Government.
“Starting around the end of March 2021, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos State began to wind down, and we began to enjoy some reprieve from the worst effects of the virus. This allowed us to further open-up the economy to allow the start of the journey towards full normalcy in our lives and the pursuit of livelihoods, after what has been a very difficult year.
“Regrettably, in spite of the hard work and dedicated efforts towards sustaining the return to normalcy, over the last three months, we are now finding ourselves at what appears to be the start of a potential 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lagos State.
“From the beginning of July, we started to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1% at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6% as at 8th of July 2021. The rapid increase within a week gives great cause for concern. Also, within the last two weeks, the occupancy rate at our 2 isolation centres increased from an average of 1% to 6%. This is the new and disturbing reality that now confronts us.
Sanwo – Olu said that Lagos has been the epicenter of the COVID – 19 since its outbreak, adding that the government will continue to live up to its billing in tackling the menace by continuing with aggressive testing.
“But we must not be demoralized by this. We must instead resolve that we will not leave any stone unturned in our bid to effectively mitigate the third wave of this pandemic in Lagos State. As you all know, Lagos has been the epicentre of the pandemic since the start, and the way we manage it here has a significant impact and reverberating effect on the national outlook and outcomes. So, Nigeria is counting on us in Lagos State to be resolute in our stand against the virus”, he said.
“We will continue to test aggressively. We will also focus on sequencing the samples we are collecting to ensure we are detecting and keeping track of the different variants in circulation. It is only by testing and sequencing comprehensively that we can collect the data required for informed decision-making”.
The governor, given figures of confirmed cases in Lagos, said that as of July 7, Lagos State had recorded a total of 60,202 COVID-19 cases.
Out of this number, 55,135 have recovered in-community and 770 are currently being managed actively in the community.
“As at the 7th of July 2021, Lagos State had recorded a total of 60,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 55,135 have recovered in-community and 770 are currently being managed actively in-community. Over the course of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, about 4,382 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres in Lagos, with 357 registered fatalities.
“In all, we have tested 563,679 samples in Lagos State since the pandemic started. Today, we have 30 accredited testing centers: 26 private and 4 public health laboratories in the State, a significant improvement in capacity over the course of the past year”, the governor said.
