Juliet Damilola
Lagos, Osun, Ondo state and Edo governments on Monday announced the deaths of 222 persons to the third wave of COVID-19.
The third wave is mostly characterised by the deadlier strain of the virus known as Delta variant.
One hundred and thirty-five of the 222 fatalities were recorded in Lagos, 70 in Ondo, 13 in Osun and four in Edo.
The three states and others like Oyo, Edo, Ebonyi and Zamfara are expected to begin the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination from tomorrow.
Edo said it would from the second week of next month make the presentation of vaccination certificate a condition for entry into churches, mosques, banks, and places of weddings, burials and receptions.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had on its website on Monday said the country logged 187,023 total confirmed COVID-19 infections as of August 22. It added that 388 new cases were recorded in one day(July 22). Lagos had 166 of the cases recorded on Sunday. It was followed by. Akwa Ibom with 89; Rivers, 76 and Oyo State 15.
Giving updates on his government’s efforts to contain the virus, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu lamented that 506 deaths had so far been recorded in the state.
He said: “As a government, we have taken substantial steps to arrest this third wave in its tracks, the most notable of them is the increased monitoring and enforcement embarked upon by members of the incident command structure.
“As at August 21, Lagos had recorded 70,563 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 60,716 have recovered in-community and 4,387 are currently being managed actively in-community.
“ About 5,551 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres, with 506 registered fatalities, 135 of which happened in this current third wave.’’
He explained that the death percentage rose from 1.1 percent in June and 7 per cent in July, to 12.1 percent this month.
The governor also hinted that plans were on to increase the state’s oxygen production capacity to about 1,000 cylinders per day.
Sanwo-Olu added that the state had received 299,000 doses of Moderna vaccine of the 601,000 promised by the Federal Government.
The governor said that vaccination centres have been increased from 88 to 150 to prevent crowding at the centres.
His words: “Lagos State received its allocation of 299,992 doses of the Moderna vaccine on August 18 for the second phase of the national vaccination campaign, which will begin this Wednesday, August 25.
“We have developed an elaborate plan to administer the vaccines in 150 centres.
“The increase in the number of centres is to prevent the gathering of large crowds and ensure the campaign does not itself become a super-spreader event. We will ensure the administration is based solely on appointments which should be done through nphcda.vaccination.
“Our ultimate goal is to vaccinate 60 percent of our residents in good time.”
Sanwo-Olu, who also reiterated his administration’s commitment to fighting the virus said: “To help us better manage the pandemic, we have invested in strengthening the capacity of the Lagos State Biobank to sequence positive cases. Sequencing allows us to identify the predominant strains of the COVID-19 virus in our environment, and provides us with information on how to better respond to the pandemic.
“We are also looking to increase our oxygen production to 1,000 cylinders per day since it is a vital requirement for the management of the most severe cases. We have seen a gradual increase in the uptake of oxygen from 75 cylinders per day at the beginning of this third wave, to over 400 cylinders per day currently.”
In Akure, the Ondo State capital, Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee on COVID-19 Prof. Adesegun Fatusi said: ‘’There have been deaths. They have risen to 70 in the last couple of months. These are the ones that we know.”
He added that 35 new cases were recorded in the state between Saturday and Sunday.
Fatusi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the University Of Medical Sciences (UNIMEDTH), stated this while addressing senior civil servants.
He said that seven of the infected persons were currently being treated at the state’s isolation centres while others are being monitored.
Appealing to the civil servants to help save lives by ensuring that all visitors adhered to COVID-19 protocols, Fatusi ruled out the possibility of a fresh lockdown in the state.
He said: ”There will be no civil service when people are dying. Civil servants should make it a duty for visitors to wear face masks. Let us do our part of the battle.”
Also yesterday, Osun Commissioner of Information and Civic Orientation Mrs. Funke Egbemode told reporters that the state is under the grip of COVID-19 third wave.
She said: “The state is now in the grips of the third wave of the dreaded disease, compounded by the fast-spreading new variant.
“In just one week, we recorded 13 COVID-19-related deaths. The government is worried about this sad turn of events.”
Mrs. Egbemode urged all residents to take responsibility for their personal safety and the safety of their family members as continued disregard for safety protocols could result in more fatalities.
Nigeria logs 187,023 total infections, says NCDC
The NCDC said on Monday that Nigeria logged 187,023 confirmed COVID-19 infections as of August. 22.
It added that the country recorded 388 additional COVID-19 infections on August . 22 alone. .
The centre attributed the recent surge to the spread of the Delta variant of the virus.
It added that the new cases were recorded in 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The NCDC stated that Lagos State reported the highest infections of the day( last Sunday) with 166 new cases, followed by Akwa Ibom (89), Rivers (76) and Oyo (15).
Others are Edo 12; Benue, 11; Delta, seven; Ogun, four; FCT, four; Kaduna, two; Gombe, one and Nasarawa, one..
The NCDC added that the country had successfully treated 168,455 COVID-19 cases following the discharge of 135 additional patients on Sunday.
The agency noted that the number of active coronavirus infections had risen to 16,300, from 16, 055 reported on Saturday.