Gombe State Deputy Gov., Mr Manassah Jatau, on Wednesday said no fewer than 44 people, including two health care providers, died of COVID-19 complications in Gombe State in one year.
Jatau, who is also the chairman of COVID-19 Management Committee, stated this in Gombe while briefing newsmen on the activities of his committee in the last one year.
He said 34,472 people had been tested of the virus out of which 2,034 were positive and 1,990 treated cases were discharged within the last one year since the virus was first discovered in the state.
According to him, the state government was able to reduce the mortality rate to 2.1 per cent against 7 per cent recorded in most states.
“2.1 per cent is our mortality rate here in Gombe, we have effectively managed our cases very well more than other states with over 7 per cent cases,” Jatau said.
He said within the year under review, emergency operational centres were created across geopolitical zones in the state by the Committee, which enabled the state to decentralise its Rapid Response Team in all local governments.
The deputy governor appealed to residents to jettison the perception that COVID-19 pandemic no longer existed, adding that the virus was still ravaging the world, hence, the need for observance of the protocols.
He enjoined residents of the state to take the COVID-19 vaccine, adding that it was safe and had no negative side effect. “So far, 36,932 people have been vaccinated in the first phase,” said Jatau.
He added that the state had engaged in training and retraining of health workers to enhance their capacity to respond to Covid-19.