Coronavirus Pandemic

Enugu State recorded 115 new cases of COVID-19 cases within two days to reach 675 cases on Saturday.

The state Health Commissioner, Dr Emmanuel Obi, said in a statement on Sunday in Enugu that 35 cases were recorded on July 17 and 80 cases on July 18.

According to him, there are 298 cases on the treatment table while the death toll had reached 17.

The commissioner said that the state had so far discharged 360 patients as of July 19.

He advised the citizens to stay at home and follow all the COVID-19 protocols.

He further urged them to practice good hygiene when coughing or sneezing and clean the surfaces around them regularly with bleach and water.

“Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds under running water as often as possible, or use alcohol-based hand sanitisers where handwashing facilities are unavailable.

“Endeavour to call the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in case you developed symptoms,’’ Obi said.

The commissioner said that the state government has also rolled out an assessment platform for the public to self-examine themselves individually for coronavirus.

He said that the new application, known as “Enugu State COVID-19 Assessment Platform”, is not diagnostic.

Rather, he said, it is meant to help people to determine their risk of exposure to the disease.

“For individuals, who do not have access to the internet or a smartphone, there is a telephone line and a USSD code which can be used.

“The telephone line also has options for English, Pidgin and Igbo Languages.’’

Obi said that responses were being monitored on a dashboard at the State Ministry of Health and would be promptly followed up by the state’s Emergency Operation Centre.

“We are urging the public to take advantage of the assessment platform, as Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is putting measures in place to contain the disease,’’ the commissioner said.

He outlined the internet line as “https://enugu-covid19.eclathealthcare.com” with the telephone number as ” 014400037 and the USSD code as *723*19*12#.