COVID-19 third wave: Sanwo-Olu says 135 died in Lagos, not 500

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, disclosed that 135 persons have died in Lagos from COVID-19 during the third wave, and not 500 as being speculated.

Sanwo-Olu, who provided the COVID-19 update, said about 1000 passengers from the red zones, with high delta variant cases, have absconded.

“From the start, Lagos State has been the epicenter of the disease in Nigeria, and that remains the case in this third wave. The test positivity rate, which measures how many tests are returning positive, out of every 100 tests conducted, currently stands at 12.1%; compared to 1.1% at the end of June 2021, and 7% at end of July 2021,” Sanwo-Olu said.

“We have identified that the third wave emerged on account of non-adherence to the laid-down health protocols designed to mitigate this pandemic. For this reason, it is essential for me to, once again, remind all of us of the huge responsibility we have to contribute to fighting and defeating this virus.

“As a state government, we have taken substantial steps to arrest this third wave in its tracks, most notable of them is the increased monitoring and enforcement embarked upon by members of the Incident Command structure.”

The governor said the state would start administering 299,992 doses of the Moderna vaccine it got from the Federal Government on August 18 2021.

Sanwo-Olu said between May 8, 2021 and August 21, 2021, 88,847 Persons of Interest (POIs) arrived Lagos via the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, of which 1,073 tested positive following arrival.

“As dictated by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 (PSC), passengers from red-listed countries (India, South Africa, Brazil and Turkey) are required to observe mandatory isolation. As at 21st of August 2021, Lagos State has identified 5,998 of these persons and successfully isolated 4,500 of them arriving from the red-listed countries, while 1,094 have absconded.

“The COVID-19 protocols on mandatory isolation were put in place by the Presidential Steering Committee to protect the country from an imminent third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nigerians who disregard the protocols and abscond from isolation are directly putting the rest of the country at risk of unending waves of the pandemic.”