Osun Government has called on residents of the state, especially those with traits of sickness, to go for COVID-19 test as the number of coronavirus cases in the state was increasing.
Dr Rafius Isamotu, Osun Commissioner for Health and Prof. Peter Olaitan, Osun COVID-19 Incident Management Officer, made the call on Monday in Osogbo.
Isamotu stressed it was necessary for residents to test due to the rising cases of coronavirus in the state, which was becoming alarming and needed to be controlled.
He, therefore, called on people of the state to take responsibility to protect themselves and others against the spread of the virus, especially the new United Kingdom (UK) strain of the virus.
“As at this morning (Monday), we have a number of 1,516 coronavirus cases recorded in the state and 32 deaths.
“It is, however, unfortunate that some folks still don’t believe COVID-19 exist,” said Isamotu.
He added that people should know that COVID-19 was real and was known to have killed many people.
“We want our people to help us to stop the spread of the virus by masking up and following all the COVID -19 guidelines and protocols.
“It is frustrating that the people are not complying with wearing of face masks. We are not alarmists but the deadly UK strain was found in Ede, at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).
“What this means is that the more deadly UK COVID-19 strain is now in Osun, the people of the state have to stick to the guidelines and always put on their face masks to prevent the spread,” he said
Olaitan, who is also the Chief Medical Director of Osun University Teaching Hospital, said people should always wear their face mask, keep to hand washing and avoid mass gathering, especially religious gatherings.
He warned that the new UK strain of the coronavirus was more damaging, deadlier, spread faster, had more spikes and could easily penetrate the blood.
He said it was scary because those discovered to have the new strain did not travel to the UK or make direct contact with people from the UK, saying it simply meant the virus was already in the communities.
He urged residents to go for the COVID-19 test at centres in all the Local Government Areas of the state, and that testing and treatment of COVID-19 were free.