The Benue State Action Committee on COVID-19 on Sunday disclosed that results from a total of 27 samples collected so far for testing in the course of its surveillance against the disease in the state have all turned negative except the index case.
Our correspondent reports that the index case had been long transferred to Abuja following the request made by the Federal Ministry of Health to handle the matter.
Commissioner for Health & Human Services/Secretary of the COVID-19 Committee, Dr. Sunday Ongbabo, made the disclosure in Makurdi while giving an update of his team’s responses to people suspected to have the disease.
Ongbabo said the team carried out three outings in Ushongo Local Government Area of the state, adding that two samples of a Lagos and Kaduna returnees were taken for tests. One of the results returned negative, while the other is being awaited.
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He said the committee has moved two contacts of the index case in Ushongo to Quarantine Unit while the sample of suspected case who clinically appeared to be having a cough of cardiac failure origin have been collected and the person moved to Lessel for Isolation.
The health commissioner further intimated that in Gboko LGA, samples were taken from three cases involving a lady, who came back from Italy, a suspected case from Mbayion, who came from Lagos and suspected case at Yandev. He said two turned negative while one result was being awaited.
Similarly, the results of one suspected case, who returned from Abuja in Gwer West LGA, 13 other cases in Makurdi LGA as well as a suspected case in IDP camp at Abagena – Agan, whose sample were collected, were negative.
Ongbabo also disclosed that one suspected case sample in Konshisha LGA of the state was collected and result was being awaited from the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in Gaduwa just as in Otukpo LGA, a man and two other members of his family from U.K had their samples collected but the test results showed negative as well as that of a retired soldier.
He further disclosed that in Gwer East LGA, a suspected case who returned from Lagos tested negative while in Tarka LGA, two suspected cases came out negative as well.
He stressed that the team had followed up on 10 passengers of interest from countries including; Spain, Italy, U.K and Malaysia and results turned negative with exception of the index case.
He added that 25 contacts of the index case in the state were supervised in self isolation and were all discharged on April 12, 2020 with the exception of one who had earlier absconded and was later brought into self-Isolation.
The commissioner of health however explained that in Okpokwu LGA, the suspected case, who eventually died, was discovered to have had diabetes, pointing out that the deceased had arrived Nigeria from Ghana in December, 2019.
“The suspect died while being conveyed to Abuja for medical attention and we were informed he was deposited at Gwagwalada. Following interests in autopsy, NCDC informed us that the case had stayed for more than six hours and results will not be reliable.
“More importantly, however, the case does not meet with case definition for COVID-19,” Ongbabo maintained.
