By Adeniyi Adedeji, Ilorin
The Kwara State Medical Advisory Committee has acknowledged that there is a new surge of COVID-19 across the country and Kwara is not exception.
Chairman of the Advisory Sub-Committee on the pandemic, Dr. Femi Oladiji, who disclosed this in the capital said already, there are two epidemiological curves of the disease in Kwara State.
The first curve he said, “peaked between July and August 2020, then plummeted in September-October, at which stage people thought COVID-19 was ‘winding down’.
According to him, some States thus started closing their isolation centres pointing out that “however, in Kwara State, the isolation centre at COVID-19/Infectious Disease Centre Sobi, Alagbado, remains operational, and is maintained by the Medical Advisory Committee.
The committee members working at the curve centre were dedicated frontline medical personnel, including Laboratory Scientists and attendants.
Oladiji said, “it is important to state clearly that we now have the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Kwara State – just like a few other states of the country. The second curve started early in November with sharp rise in number of positive cases.
“The reasons for this second wave are many, including (i) increase in awareness for voluntary testing, which has increased the number of new cases; (ii) nonchalant attitude of many Kwara State residents and non-adherence to preventive measures against the disease.
Other reasons, according to him include “influx of people from other states in Nigeria and from overseas, expansion of sampling and testing capacities by the state, which was assisted by the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Regional Disease Surveillance System Enhancement, REDISSE, and National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC.”
He added, “Statistically, cross sectional studies conducted by a team of researchers of the Medical Advisory Sub-Committee on COVID-19 Kwara State reported that between 11th July and 11th August 2020, the total number of confirmed cases was 500 between this period whereas between 11th September – 11th October 2020, the total number of confirmed cases dropped to 63.
“However, between 11th November and 11th December 2020, the total number of confirmed cases rose to 180, an approximate threefold increase with 17 cases on admission at the isolation centre.
Dr. Oladiji said on December 11 alone, Kwara State reported 23 confirmed cases, urging residents to adhere to preventive measures at all times to limit the spread of the disease in the Kwara in particular and Nigeria in general.
