Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has given reasons the name of the company where 38 staff member contracted coronavirus has not been disclosed.

On Saturday, the governor announced that 30 members of an unnamed company in the South West area of Ibadan contracted coronavirus while on Monday, he disclosed that test of another set of eight staff members returned positive for the disease.

However, speaking during a press briefing on the pandemic in Ibadan on Monday evening, Makinde said the name of the company was withheld so as to allow the Emergency Operations Centre to gather intelligence and complete their investigation.

According to Makinde, “Today, I am being joined by Professor Temitope Alonge, a member of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force. He will brief you on the new treatment protocol for COVID-19 cases in the state and the reliability of the results obtained so far.

“I will yield the floor to him in a moment but first, let me give you a general overview of where we are in the fight against COVID-19 in Oyo State.

“The details of the company in Ibadan South West Local Government Area where 38 COVID-19 cases have so far, been confirmed in the last two days, will be unveiled tomorrow.

We have held back from revealing the name of the company so as to allow the Emergency Operations Centre gather intelligence and complete their investigation.

So, they will be done by tomorrow and we will be able to give you that information so that any person who has visited the company recently will be able to present themselves for testing.

On the management of COVID-19 cases, we will continue to allow all confirmed COVID-19 cases who are able to self-isolate at home to do so, in order not to overwhelm the capacity of our isolation centres.

This also ensures that the isolation centres are available for those who need hospitalisation. However, we will keep tracking those self-isolating using technology to prevent community spread.

We will issue an advisory based on the advice given by Professor E. Olatunde Farombi, a Professor of Biochemistry and Fellow, Nigeria Academy of Science. This is on foods and natural products useful as preventive measures against COVID-19 and other viral illnesses.

For instance, we have bitter kola, turmeric, zinc, ginger, garlic, citrus fruits and bitter leaf. Let me emphasise that this advisory is not for the treatment or cure of COVID-19, it is preventive. (Nigerian Tribune)

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