By Pascal Aigbogun
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has sounded another alarm on the rising level of Covid-19 infections in Lagos State. The Governor, today restated the importance of residents to know the unpalatable epidemiology of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Governor Sanwo-Olu noted that the 3rd wave has presented some challenges and he confirmed a record of 135 fatalities already which highlights the havoc being caused by the deadly strain of the virus spreading in the country.
He said that the current level of fatalities makes it necessary for Lagosians to take vaccinations very seriously. He also said that the State has received a little above 300,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to boost herd immunity in Lagos, which will be rolled out from Wednesday next week across 150 centres.
“I want to add that the test positivity rate in our State has increased to 12.1% in the past weeks, compared to 7% recorded at the end of July, 2021. This, undoubtedly is as a result of non-adherence to the laid-down health protocols designed to stop the spread of the pandemic.
We are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and Lagos has remained the epicenter of the disease in Nigeria. As at August 21, 2021, 4,387 positive cases are currently being managed actively in-community. Over the course of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, about 5,551 patients have been admitted into our various COVID-19 care centres in Lagos, with 506 registered fatalities. Of these deaths, 135 have happened in this current third wave.
I commiserate with all residents who have lost loved ones to the pandemic. We share in your pain and grief. As a society, it is important that we redouble our efforts to defeat this devastating pandemic.
We will ramp up our oxygen plants in the coming days as we project that the demand for oxygen may rise in the next few weeks. We have seen a gradual increase in the uptake of oxygen during the current wave. Utilization has increased from 75 cylinders per day at the beginning of the third wave, to over 400 cylinders per day, currently. Predicting that we may be requiring even more oxygen supply over the next few weeks, we are exploring several ways of increasing our oxygen capacity.
One of the major pillars of our mitigation strategy for the third wave is vaccination. We are seeing that countries that have vaccinated a large percentage of their population are recording drastic reductions in the numbers of COVID-19 related deaths”.
The Governor noted that this is one of the reasons why the State has not spared any cost to ensure that the vaccines that have been provided by the Federal Government are made available to every resident that meets the requirements for the vaccination programme.
He urged Lagosians to get vaccinated and continue to observe all social etiquettes neccessary to curb the spread of the virus, for the collective good of all Lagosians. He adviced that good health is a harbinger of many other good things and that Lagosians must ensure everyone remain safe and healthy.
