Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The number of recorded cases of COVID-19 has jumped to 74 with 17 new case recorded on Friday night.
The number of cases had crawled since April 7 when the index was recorded to 54 as at early Friday.
The 17 new cases were recorded in Warri, Uvwie, Asaba, Ethiope West, Aniocha South and Oshimili North areas of the state.
Reacting on phone to Sunday’s Sun enquiry on what could be responsible for the sudden increase, Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu attributed it partly to the aggressive community contact tracing of the state government.
Aniagwu also said the partial re-opening of the economy could also be responsible, saying that people are now meeting each without necessarily being careful.
“That is why we are saying that people need to be careful by observing the protocols on the prevention of the virus particularly in public spaces.
“The number has also increased because of the aggressive testing which the state government has adopted lately. We want to appeal to residents that there is need to always put on the facemask and observe social distancing in public,” he said.
Out of the 74 recorded cases, 52 are active and receiving treatment in various centres across the state.
15 patients have so fat been discharged after testing negative twice at treatment centres, just as seven deaths have been recorded.