Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Thursday, extended the dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state for another 14 days.

The curfew is to run from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Obaseki had on April 19 announced a 10-day dusk to dawn curfew to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

At a media briefing in Benin, the governor highlighted progress recorded by the state government in the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

He said: “Since my last public update about 10 days ago, we have made tremendous progress in the area of screening, testing, and improving awareness on the pandemic for our people.

“Working closely with the public and private hospitals, we have screened no fewer than 20,000 people and tested 297 of them.

“This increased screening and testing is the reason for the increased number of cases in the state.

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“We are aggressively pushing to screen our minimum target of about 500,000 people and test about one percent of them which is about 5,000 in the next few weeks.

“As we increase testing, we are likely to see an astronomic rise in the number of cases in the state.

“Of the 20,000 people we have screened and the 297 samples taken, we have recorded 37 confirmed cases as of today, discharged eight and lost three people.

“It is worthy of note that late testing was a strong factor leading to fatality. That is why I am advising everybody to go out for screening at the numerous screening centers in the state.”

Obaseki said the various screening centres offered free medical services, free face masks, and free multivitamins.

“I’m confident that we can beat this virus if we follow the measures put in place strictly,” he added.  (NAN)

Vanguard