BENIN CITY – Edo State Government has sued for maximum cooperation of its citizens, allaying fears concerning the risk of contracting COVID 19, during Edo 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF) .

A statement from the Chief Press Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor, Mr. Ebomhiana Musa, stated that despite the present outbreak of the Corona Virus Disease (COVID 19) worldwide, with the scare of it taking on an epidemic scale if left unchecked, there has been only one confirmed case in Nigeria with no case in Edo State.

He stated that based on a risk assessment on the threat of COVID 19, based on Edo State’s response towards ensuring the smooth flow of the sports festival, government has put in measures to prevent the spread of this viral disease through screening of participants, deployment of well trained health personnel at all venues, and the collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), adding that the Rapid Response Team of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) is on top of it with Emergency Operation Centre in Edo State.

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Towards actualization of the games, he stated, government has made available hand washing facilities to shore up personal hygiene backed with enlightenment and dissemination of adequate information to the populace to help them identify and report on suspected cases of COVID 19.

He encouraged the masses to report any person suspected with symptoms such as acute respiratory illness with a sudden onset of at least either cough, sore throat, shortness of breath or fever that is more than or up to thirty eight degree centigrade (38oc), especially when the heat came up fourteen (14) days prior to onset of symptoms after exposure to the virus.

The statement added that there was need to present for medical scrutiny if persons with burning temperature were confirmed to have been in contact with those with the viral disease or had a recent travel history to China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Iran, Hong Kong, Italy, Vietnam and Taiwan or worked in or attended a health facility where patients with COVID 19 were being treated or admitted with severe pneumonia of unknown aetiology.