…say 30 staff testing positive in one coy spells crisis
Residents of Ibadan, Oyo State, have urged Governor Seyi Makinde to name the company where 30 staff tested positive.
The residents said it was in the best interest of the people of the state to know the company so that those who had come in contact with its staff would self isolate.
This, according to them, will help in containing the spread of the virus.
The Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force had announced on Saturday that 30 of the 31 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state were members of the same organisation, based in the Ibadan South West Local Government.
The Governor had said on Twitter that the company had been shut down and would be decontaminated.
“We urge members of the public to remain calm as the situation is under control. Intensified contact tracing has already commenced. We will give an update on any additional measures that may need to be taken,” he tweeted.
A food seller at Challenge, in Ibadan, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Alimi, said when she heard the news on the radio, she was afraid that the number was too high to come from the same organisation.
“My husband who is a civil servant said the Governor should have mentioned the name of the organisation so that people who have been in contact with anyone there would take care of themselves even if they don’t show up for testing,” she said.
A Lagos-based lawyer, who is an indigene of Ibadan, told The Point that the case was the highest the country had recorded in an organisation and should not be taken with levity.
He said, “Governor Makinde is a dynamic governor. I wonder why he is keeping the name of the company. If individuals could come out to disclose their COVID-19 status, why won’t the Governor disclose the name of the company where 30 members of staff tested positive?
“Access Bank on its own announced that someone in one of its branches tested positive and told people who banked there between a particular period to self isolate and call COVID-19 emergency numbers. Makinde owes the people of Ibadan the duty of informing them. It is not enough to say everything is under control.”
According to him, keeping quiet would do more harm than good.
A civil servant in the state, who asked not to be named, said there was fresh panic in Ibadan currently on the spread of Coronavirus, adding that if 30 members of a company could test positive at the same time, then it meant the state should actually be locked down.
He said, “I see it as a case of emergency. Why are we all still walking about when we have this crisis in our hands? The governor should have called for at least two weeks total lockdown to contain the spread and then reopen gradually afterwards.
“He must as a matter of urgency name the company involved so that the rest of us can be careful. Contact tracing is more difficult and time wasting.”
