COVID-19: 1,094 returning travellers from red-listed countries absconds from isolation – Sanwo-Olu

By our reporter/ The Lagos state government on Monday said that over 1,000 returning travellers from red-listed countries – India, South Africa, Brazil, and Turkey – have absconded from isolation in Lagos State.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu who raised the alarm while giving an update on the COVID-19 pandemic and how the government is working to curb the spread of the disease revealed that a total of 1,073 inbound passengers out of 88,847 who arrived in Lagos via the Murtala Mohammed International Airport between May 8 and August 21 tested positive.

Governor Sanwo-Olu stated that as of Saturday, the state has identified 5,998 of the returning travellers and successfully isolated 4,500 people who arrived from the red-listed countries, while 1,094 have absconded.

He explained that the COVID-19 protocols on mandatory isolation were put in place by the Presidential Steering Committee to protect Nigeria from an imminent third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor, however, decried that Nigerians who disregard the protocols and abscond from isolation were directly putting the rest of the country at risk of unending waves of the pandemic.

As of Saturday, Lagos had recorded 70,563 cases, out of which 60,716 have recovered in-community and 4,387 are being managed actively in-community.

Over the course of managing the pandemic, about 5,551 patients have been admitted into various government facilities with 506 registered fatalities.

Governor Sanwo-Olu disclosed that of these deaths, 135 have happened in the current third wave of the pandemic.

He blamed the emergence of the third wave on non-adherence to the laid-down health protocols designed to mitigate the pandemic.

The governor, therefore, informed the residents that they have a huge responsibility of contributing to the fight against the virus.

He hinted that the state government has taken substantial steps to arrest the third wave in its tracks, especially with the increased monitoring and enforcement exercise by members of the Incident Command structure.

But Governor Sanwo-Olu warned against recalcitrance on the part of the residents which he said led to the higher infection rates that were recorded in the state.