Ogun Commissioner of Health, Dr Tomi Coker,

Adejoke Adeleye/Abeokuta

Ogun Government says it has been able to test one percent of the state’s population since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The State Government, in a statement signed by the Commissioner of Health, Dr Tomi Coker, revealed that Ogun has been able to test over 50,000 residents which is one per cent of its population as stipulated by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

The Commissioner said this has made Ogun one of the leading States in the number of tests carried out.

She added that the state government is scaling up its preparedness to contain the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic; therefore it has opened an oxygen therapy center to avoid scarcity of the life-saving consumable.

Coker revealed that the Oxygen Therapy Center which sits within the Infectious Disease Hospital, Iberekodo, Abeokuta, consists of 20 beds of high dependency capacity.

Dr. Coker affirmed that the state and nation at large are in the deep of second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, describing the infectivity rate of the new strain as being highly infectious.

“Our Oxygen Therapy Center in Iberekodo, Abeokuta will help to ensure that we do not run out of oxygen like some states are experiencing at the moment.

“We are responding appropriately to contain and curtail this second wave.

“Our positivity rate prior to December was roving around 0.7 – 0.8 percent, but since December, particularly January, our positivity rate has gone up by about 8 percent, which means that this second wave is real.

Hence, we all have to pay attention and do all the necessary things needed to protect ourselves.

“However we are responding appropriately to contain and curtail this second wave, but the success of our response has to be a collaborative one between the government and the individuals,” the Commissioner said.