Date: 2020-12-14

Kwara state government has said that the state has entered its second wave of COVID-19 outbreak.

It added that the second curve started early in November with a sharp rise in the number of positive cases.

Chairman of the state's Medical Advisory Sub-committee COVID-19, Dr. Femi Oladiji said that "the reasons for this second wave are many, including the increase in awareness for voluntary testing, which has increased the number of new cases; nonchalant attitude of many Kwara state residents and non-adherence to preventive measures against the disease; the influx of people from other states in Nigeria and from overseas and expansion of sampling and testing capacities by the State which was assisted by the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Regional Disease Surveillance System Enhancement (REDISSE) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)."

Dr Oladiji said that: 'Statistically, cross-sectional studies conducted by a team of researchers of the Medical advisory sub-committee on Covid-19 Kwara state reported that between 11th July – 11th August 2020 the total number of confirmed cases was 500, whereas, between 11th September – 11th October 2020, the total number of confirmed cases dropped to 63. However, between 11th November and 11th December 2020, the total number of confirmed cases rose to 180, an approximately threefold increase with 17 cases on admission at the isolation centre.

"December 11 alone, the state reported 23 confirmed cases! Residents of the state are therefore urged to adhere to preventive measures at all times to limit the spread of the disease."