Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti

Ekiti State Government, has said two children ages 10 and nine, were among the four newly-confirmed COVID-19 patients in the state.

This is as the state government said it had not returned the 1,800 bags of rice alleged to have been adulterated and unfit for consumption to the Federal Government, contrary to insinuation in some quarters.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, on Saturday, discovered four new cases in Ekiti, who had contacts with the 45-year-old doctor, who contracted the disease through the only deceased patient in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, spoke in Ado- Ekiti, on Monday, when the task force on COVID-19 was giving the update on the pandemic.

The commissioner said: “In the four new cases, there were two children of ages 10 and nine who must have contacted it through the 45-year old doctor and the only active case before the new cases.

“They are all in isolation centre. They are responding, doing well, stable and in high spirits.

“With this new development, we have 58 contacts to trace and we have started doing that. Blood samples have been taken and results are being awaited while the contacts tracing also continues.”

Yaya-Kolade clarified that Ekiti doesn’t have community spread of COVID-19, saying: “This is because we knew where the contacts came from.”

The coordinator of the COVID-19 task force and Director-General, Office of Strategic Transformation and Delivery, Prof. Bolaji Aluko, added that the 1800 bags of rice donated to Ekiti by FG , would be sorted to be able to separate the expired from consumable ones.

“We have not rejected or returned any rice to FG. The state will do the sorting and separate the bad ones out of the consignment”, he clarified.

Aluko added that the government had begun the tracking of commuters who forcefully entered the state with a view to quarantining them, urging residents in border towns to give information that can help in apprehending those crossing into the state illegally.

“Quarantine points have been provided in all the 16 local governments. To also demonstrate our seriousness, some pastors holding nocturnal church processions have been arrested and made to face the magistrate’s courts.”

Aluko stated that the state will continue to distribute food materials and other protective materials to citizens to help curb the pains of the menace.