The Anambra Government on Monday said it had established contact with 29 persons including health workers, relations, friends and business associates of the COVID-19 index case in the state.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Vincent Okpala, made the disclosure at a news briefing in Awka.
Okpala noted that the index case was currently in a protective care centre equipped with ventilators and cardiac monitors.
“Presently, the index case is being treated at a protective centre and he is receiving the best of treatment ever.
“He has every facility he needs and is also has been provided with whatever he wants,” he said.
The commissioner said the state COVID-19 Response Team established contact with the index case at about 3:21a.m. on Saturday after leaving the hospital where he was first admitted.
According to him, the index patient left a hospital where he was being managed on April 10, while awaiting his test result from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
“We were managing the case until we got the notification that the patient tested positive around 7p.m.
“When I called the doctor managing him and he told me the man was not in the hospital, we had to go look for him.
“The team went to places we would not have been. We knocked at doors until we located him with the help of technology,” Okpala said.
The commissioner said that the COVID-19 Response Team had already traced 29 persons, who were potential contacts of the index case.
“These contacts were in the facilities that the patient visited; they include family and friends, business associates.
“We have interacted with them and my team is following up on them,” he said.
He also said that the state government had decontaminated the facilities which the index patient had contact with based on World Health Organisation (WHO) and NCDC guidelines and were safe for use.
Okpala, who urged the people to remain calm and follow government’s advice, said the social distancing and lockdown directive were measures to prevent heavy fatality in the state.
“I want Anambra people to know that right now we have no problem with testing. Anybody that qualifies to be tested has either been tested or will be tested,” he said.
