Ekiti State has discovered the five new cases of the COVID-19, raising its number of confirmed cases in the state to 902.
According to the state government, out of 902 cases recorded in the state, 24 persons are still on admission receiving treatment, 867 persons have been discharged, with 11 deaths recorded.
The state government explained that the five new cases of the COVID-19 discovered resulted from extensive and increased testing across the local governments.
The state Commissioner for Health, Oyebanji Filani, on Wednesday, said that the increased number of confirmed cases was understandable due to effective testing across the state.
”We are testing more than we have ever tested in the state,” Mr Filani said.
“We have decentralised the process. We no longer test in the state capital, we test in all the LGAs; we test in all our second-tier facilities, we test in our primary health facilities and a host of our tertiary hospitals.
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“That means we are testing significantly more, and once you are testing significantly, you are more likely to pick up more numbers.”
Mr Filani noted that with the presence of the Delta variant of the virus, which is more infectious and transmissible, there is a possibility that in any state where more cases are recorded, could be traceable to the transmissible rate of the virus.
He added that the state was not alarmed by the records, because it had prepared and had what it takes to tackle the situation.
He said people should wear face masks, wash their hands and adhere strictly to all the COVID-19 prevention protocols as part of the prevention measures.
Mr Filani, however, said the state had yet to determine whether the new cases were the Delta variant because the sequence of tests needed to prove it had not been carried out.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the nation recorded 206 new confirmed cases on July 20.
The 206 new cases are reported from 10 states- Lagos (132), Akwa Ibom (56), Ekiti (5), Delta (3), Rivers (2), Enugu (2), Jigawa (2), Katsina (2), Gombe (1) and FCT (1).
Till date, 169,884 cases have been confirmed, 164,733 cases have been discharged and 2,128 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
