Clement Adeyi, Osogbo

The Osun State Government has said that it is awaiting the results of 30 samples from the contact tracing it embarked upon at the weekend as a part of its coronavirus containment strategies.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Rafiu Isamotu, who disclosed this on Tuesday, said that the samples had been sent to a Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) accredited testing centre, the African Centre of Excellence in Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Ede, Osun State.

The commissioner added that contact tracing was carried out in Ejigbo, Osu, Ife East, Ilesa and Ede areas of the state.

While explaining the rationale behind contact tracing in the areas, Isamotu explained that the wife of a confirmed case in Ife was said to have travelled to Osu after leaving Ife, before returning to Ilesa.

He added that all the 24 contacts of the cases were located by the state’s COVID-19 Task Force Committee and that their samples had been taken for evaluation.

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“Apart from the 24 samples, residents also called the team for suspected cases and, in the process, those samples were collected. So the total samples collected to which we are awaiting result is 30,” he stated.

The commissioner further disclosed that the 14 suspected cases who were subjected to test on Sunday all returned negative Monday night.

Isamotu also revealed that three state health workers who initially tested positive for the virus had tested negative once.

He added that they would be subjected to another round of tests in line with NCDC protocol.

“Also, our three health workers who initially tested positive, have now tested negative once. But, in line with NCDC protocol, they have to test negative twice before they can be affirmed ready to join the society and resume their normal lives. So, their samples will be taken again for another test after 48 hours,” the commissioner stressed.