In Oyo State, on Monday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases stood at seven, the state COVID-19 Incidents Centre said.

Checks by our correspondent show that samples of some persons being located through contact tracing were already taken to the diagnostic centre for test.

The state Incident Manager, Dr Olabode Ladiipo, who spoke in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday, said,

“We are still with 76 (cases). One of those cases seems to have recovered. We are going to have confirmation of his results very soon.

“If the result comes out negative, we would have had a case that has recovered in Oyo State. However, we are expecting the second result which might be in anytime from now.

“We are still with seven (confirmed) cases and we are still following up with the contacts. At this point in time, we have a total of 101 cases that we are tracing. We have been able to make contact with about 50 of them. We are trying hard to locate the others.”

Asked how they follow up on the already traced contacts, he said,

“We call them everyday. We actually try and see them every other day or every three days.”

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According to him, so far, 28 samples have been taken for tests.

“The kits (availability) is the major issue now. But you have to understand that it is a thing that is all over the world now, not in the country alone. We are trying to see how we can work with the virology laboratory and makeup by improvising so that we would be able to meet the demand for testing.

“The state has procured equipment to facilitate diagnosis. The laboratory that we are using has been certified by the National Centre for Disease Control,” he said.

In addition, the former Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Temitope Alonge, while speaking at the Oyo State Infectious Disease Isolation Centre, Olodo disclosed that he had the mandate of the Oyo State Government to set up the state’s Infectious Disease Isolation Centre.

Judging by the level of work at the centre, Alonge said the Oyo State Government was bent on ensuring that the fight against coronavirus in the state was won.

He said, “Governor Seyi Makinde is working towards success in the fight against this virus. He has taken sound advice from experts. As it stands, the requirements for the take-off of a bigger surge is in place, the Agbami Centre has a ten-bed space, which is why this centre has been created and it will be ready in the next five days.

“We only need to put in some finishing touches like oxygen, running water and solar panel system. We also have a small mortuary because not everyone will survive, but we don’t pray for anyone to die. In a setting like this, people are bound to die and we have to provide them with decent storage.”

The Director, Planning, Resources and Statistics, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Abass Gbolahan, said, “UCH has been a partner in the management of pandemics in the state; we have an Isolation centre there too.

“The Executive Governor has also supported UCH in creating a testing centre, so we don’t have to take samples all the way from here to Lagos.”