By JAMES OGUNNAIKE, Abeokuta

Residents of Ewekoro, Abeokuta and adjourning communities in Ogun State are now living with fear over the outbreak of the deadly disease, Coronavirus, which was confirmed yesterday by medical personnel.

According to some people who spoke with VANGUARD in Abeokuta, Ewekoro and Sango Ota, said there is hardly any company in the country where we do not have Chinese, Italian or foreign expatriate and as we all enjoy knowing that the disease broke out when they all travelled for their Lunar New Year celebrations, this shows that we are not safe at all. The possibility of importing the deadly disease into the country is very high.

People are now beginning to go to hospitals whenever they are sick because Governor Dapo Abiodun said the disease has the same symptoms with malaria and that anybody of Ogun state, Dapo Abiodun said government hospitals will begin to isolate anyone found suspicious of having the symptoms of the deadly Coronavirus in the state.

Since the Governor has said that government may begin to quarantine anyone with symptoms of cough, fever and other related diseases that their symptoms look like Coronavirus, I will not go to hospitals for now.. I will rather go for alternative medicine.

On their part, Youths in Ewekoro under the aegis of Voice of Ewekoro Youths, requests for more and adequate attention of the Federal and Ogun State Governments over the recent recorded case of Coronavirus in the Local Government.

The body in a statement issued by one Kazeem Surakat and obtained by our Correspondent read, “We solicit for proper medical investigation on all suspected persons that have had direct physical contact and conversation with the infected Italian man at LAFARGE as our dear people in large number are working with the Company” .

“This action will ensure adequate control of spreading this deadly disease to our people. We heard from different sources that this Italian man had direct physical contact and conversation with his driver and some top managers that always have interaction with our Community Youth Representatives, Workers and Contractors and of course, interactions continue outside the work premises down to individual residence”.

“We appeal to the government to do a thorough fetching of all these people had direct physical contact and conversation with this Italian man within the certain period of time and carry out proper medical screening for them all”.

Some of our businessmen and women who frequent the Nigeria-China routes for business might import the killer virus into the country if care was not taken.

Also, a resident of Bode Olude, Mr Isiaq Ajax, called on government to ensure that it put on measures to curtail the spread, most especially as the schools and other public institution will be on from Monday. According to him, the Teachers and other stakeholders need to be carried along in the Publicity and preventive measures.

Meanwhile, Ogun State government has described as false, a news on the social media that a cab driver who drove the Italian victim of Coronavirus from Lagos to Ogun, was demanding a ransom of N100m or spread the virus.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Kunle Somorin, in a telephone chat with our correspondent, said the news was not only false but fake.

A social media platform had reported that the cab driver identified in the report as Adewale Isaac Olorogun, was diagnosed to have contracted the deadly virus from his passenger he took from Lagos to a cement company in Ogun.

He was reported to have escaped from the hospital and sent a message to the Ogun State Commissioner for Health to organise a sum of N100m for his family or he would start to spread the virus all over the country. But Somorin, said the report was untrue, adding that no such message was either received by the Health Commissioner or the state government.

He stated that investigation carried out to determine the veracity of the report proved the story was concocted by the writer. Somorin, however, urged the people to disregard such report, saying the state had put a mechanism in place to ensure the virus is contained. (Saturday Vanguard)

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