Osun denies escape of 6 COVID-19 patients, says only one missing

Osun State Government has refuted reports that six confirmed COVID-19 patients have escaped from its isolation centre in Ejigbo.

The state government, in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Information, Funke Egbemode, however said that only one of the patients is missing.

Reports had emerged on Saturday that six of the Ivory Coast returnees who tested positive for COVID-19 disease had escaped from the Ejigbo isolation centre.

Egbemode, in the statement, dismissed the report and said after headcount, only one person could not be accounted for.

The statement read in parts: “Our attention has been drawn to a story purporting that six persons were missing from our Isolation Centre in Ejigbo.

“One of the writers quoted a non-existent statement from the government to lend some measure of credibility to the story.

“Nothing can be further from the truth. As a government, we have not issued any statement to confirm or deny such a story. Besides, a quick check showed that the name and number of the first person on the list of the purported missing patients are indeed currently in our facility in Ejigbo.

“Recall that about a week ago, we received 127 returnees from Ivory Coast and we have kept them since then to avoid community transfer of the virus.

“This morning we embarked on a headcount and found out that only one person could not be accounted for by officials stationed at the Isolation Centre out of the 127 persons.

“The State Government is currently investigating the matter and will ensure that the missing person is brought back to the Isolation Centre and we will also ensure we trace all his contacts.

“We want to reiterate that any official(s) found culpable will also be dealt with accordingly.

“We implore members of the public to discountenance the alarm being raised. We will continue to do everything to protect the lives of our citizens in this fight against Coronavirus.”