COVID-19 second wave: Obaseki suspends schools’ resumption, reviews curfew to 10pm

▪︎insists on strict enforcement of regulations

▪︎ “No mask, no entry” rule extended to transport, hospitality, banking, other sectors

The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has reviewed the curfew earlier imposed in the state to now span from 10pm to 5am to check rising cases of COVID-19 in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic.

The governor, who rolled out several measures to halt the spread of the virus in the state during a press conference in Government House, Benin City, also announced the suspension of schools’ resumption.

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Those in attendance at the conference included the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu; Edo State Coordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO), Mrs Faith Ireye; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Osamwonyi Irowa; and the Edo State COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr Andrew Obi, among others.

Governor Obaseki said the state government had built a robust response mechanism while dealing with the first wave of the coronavirus, but that data from comparison between the first and the second wave of the pandemic showed that there was need to take drastic measures so as to limit the spread of the new wave of the virus, which had been confirmed to be more virulent and infectious.

According to him, “Comparing the first six weeks of the pandemic from March 23, 2020 with the first six weeks since December 1, 2020, Edo State has witnessed an 84.5 percent rise in the number of infected persons.

“There has also been a 10.5 percent increase in the number of older persons infected with Covid-19. It is early days yet, but we have evidence suggesting that more older persons infected with COVID-19 are dying.

“Most of the cases in the early phase of the pandemic were travel-related but since December 2020, there has been a 13.9 percent increase in community transmission of the disease.”