Sequel to the confirmation of a new Covid-19 case in Ekiti State, the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said that government may extend the period of the lockdown beyond April 27 in order to allow for effective tracing of everyone who had direct contact with the new case.
The governor also said security would be beefed up at the state’s boundaries with other neighbouring states to check the rate of people sneaking into Ekiti during the lockdown.
Speaking at a press briefing in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, Governor Fayemi said the new COVID-19 confirmed case, a pregnant 29 -year old community health worker in Lagos State was first admitted at a state comprehensive primary healthcare facility in active labour from where she moved to a private hospital.
According to the governor, the patient had a caesarian session at the private clinic, but suffered a cardiac arrest, a development which prompted the clinic to refer her to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, where the doctors became suspicious of her condition and subsequently got her tested for coronavirus.
The governor disclosed that the state COVID-19 taskforce had succeeded in tracing over 30 of the patient’s primary contacts including medical personnel who attended to her at the private hospital, adding that they were all currently in self isolation.
He added that by the time both secondary and tertiary contacts were included, the single case might have placed hundreds of unsuspecting people at risk of COVID-19 infection in the state.
“Sadly, Ekiti State has confirmed a third COVID-19 positive case. This new case is a pregnant 29-year-old female Community Health Worker with Lagos State who sneaked into Ekiti State in spite of the lockdown. She presented at a State Comprehensive Primary Healthcare facility in active labour on Monday April 13, 2020. After a prolonged labour with fatal distress, she was referred to a teaching hospital but decided to go to a private hospital instead. A caesarean section was performed on the patient and the baby was delivered safely. However, she suffered a cardiac arrest and was referred to the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti where she is currently unconscious. The suspicion of COVID-19 infection and subsequent testing was at the Federal Tertiary institution.
“The Ekiti State COVID-19 Taskforce has already commenced contact tracing of the new case as at this morning, we have over 30 primary contacts on our list already. The baby is alive and under surveillance while the private clinic has been sealed off and medical personnel who interacted with this case during her obstetrics and gynecology emergency have been contacted and put in self isolation. By the time we include secondary and tertiary contacts, this one case may have put hundreds of unsuspecting people at risk of COVID-19 infection in Ekiti State,” he said.
Fayemi noted that before the new case, Ekiti State had had 29 suspected cases, 2 confirmed cases, and 49 contact tracing persons of interest but was glad that none of the contacts traced showed any symptoms of the infection.
The governor further explained that the unfortunate incident underscored the reasoning behind government emphasis on protecting Ekiti State from an outbreak of the pandemic by his directive of total lockdown of movement.
He said however that he was not happy with the disloyalty of the people and the security personnel which enabled this patient to gain access to the state even during a boundary shut down, therefore putting the lives of so many people at risk, and putting Ekiti State under the dreaded possibility of community infection.
