The Edo state government on Monday declined the identity of the second confirmed case of Coronavirus in the state saying it does not have the permission of the patient to do so even as thirteen new cases were identified and their blood specimen sent to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital for screening.

Addressing journalists at the Government House, Benin on Monday, the Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu said the state government is going to commence massive screening and testing for Coronavirus in order to get a statistical sense of how widespread the virus is in the state to ensure effective planning and containment efforts.

But the state coordinator of the World Health Organization, WHO, Mrs Faith Ireye said thirteen new cases have been identified from the over one thousand five hundred calls received from different parts of the state.

“From those calls, we have been able to identify thirteen persons that required attention and their specimens have been taken to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, though some of them, their results are back and they tested negative but we are still waiting for the rest. We are telling you this to show that we are actually following cases of interest,” she said.

According to her:

“Apart from the ones we got from the telephone calls, we also have persons of interest that entered the country through Abuja airport, we got the list and we are following them up, but over thirty-six of them have completed their fourteen days and exited.”

On the two confirmed cases, Ireye said so far we have seventy-one contacts that have been listed and are being followed up.

“However we want to still look inwards, If we have more cases that have contact with the confirmed cases, we keep line listing. It’s always better to overline list than underline list our contacts. The idea is to be able to follow them up so that when they become symptomatic we will quickly remove them from the community to the isolation centre even before the result of the test will be out.

“It is either we take them to the isolation centre or we tell them to self isolate from home if they can do it. Over a thousand five hundred people have called us to give us information about cases of interest, about people that have entered the state from some of the overseas countries without us knowing. People that also have some forms of symptoms have also been calling us and we have been giving them the right information. This is very good for us.

“As I speak to you, we have forty-seven that we are following up many of them will complete their fourteen days within the next two, three or four days,” she said.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Edo State Council has commended the prompt response of the state government to the ravaging coronavirus but expressed concern that the state government was not carrying its members along in the fight against the disease.

Chairman of the association, Comrade Catherine Esene told journalists in Benin City that nurses and Midwives were essential and indispensable front liners in the health sector and were not happy over their exclusion from the COVID-19 response team set up by the state government.

“The priorities of NANNM, Edo State Council at this critical period are the safety, health and well-being of her members as well as the general public,” she said.

She called on the state government to ensure adequate training as well as the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for use by all health workers.

“When PPE is not available, it becomes impossible to hold anyone liable for not rendering service. We, therefore, urge Nurses not to risk their lives, but to withdraw their services in such circumstances,” she said.

In view of the challenges occasioned by the “Stay at home order,” she called on the government to look at the possibility of providing adequate transportation for Nurses and other health workers to and from work as transportation will be a major challenge at this time.

The association also drew the attention of the government to the need;

“To make efforts to increase the already depleted health workforce at this critical time to ensure there are adequate hands to manage this scourge. The few nurses across the state are already facing overwork and burnout and more hands are urgently required since the state is committed to addressing this scourge.”