Panic grips Delta State as 20 Covid-19 taskforce members contract virus and pass away

HEALTH officials in Delta State have been thrown into a state of panic after about 20 of its ad-hoc staff recruited to serve on the Covid-19 taskforce suddenly died over the last few weeks after contracting illnesses.

Across Nigeria, 21,371 have been infected with Covid-19, of which there have been 533 fatalities, while in Delta State, 569 people have been affected, of which 20 have died. Like all the other Nigerian states, the Delta State government opened isolation centres and established a Covid-19 taskforce, giving a mandate to control the spread of the virus and adherence to health guidelines.

Over the last few weeks, however, at least 20 members of the Delta State Covid-19 taskforce have passed away. An inside source said the deaths were being kept under wraps to avoid tension, adding that the list did not include high profile government officials across the state.

Last Sunday,  Chiedu Ebie, the secretary to Delta State government, and Charles Aniagwu, the commissioner for information, both tested positive to Covid-19. Both officials who hail from Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s Ika constituency, are now in isolation centres where they are receiving treatment.

As a precaution, the Delta State government has taken steps to curtail the further spread of the virus by shutting down some office complexes in Asaba, the capital. These include the offices of the secretary to the state government, the information ministry, Government House and the office of the permanent secretary in government house.