Bayelsa confirms nine new COVID-19 cases, seals six religious houses

Bayelsa State Committee on COVID-19 has confirmed nine new cases among the 307 cases announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), bringing the number of cases in the state to 21.

Co-chairman of the committee, Dr. Nathaniel Inodu, disclosed this in a statement in Yenogoa yesterday.

Also, the security sub-committee of the task force on COVID-19 sealed six religious houses on Sunday for non-compliance to safety measures.

The affected congregations are Living Faith Church, Igbogene; Salvation Victory Centre, Igbogene; Shalom International Christian Centre, along Tombia-Amassoma road; Great Grace Distinguished Assembly, Okutukutu; Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, Opolo; and Hebrews International Church, Ayama road.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Orientation, Freston Akpor, stated that the houses would remain sealed until further notice to serve as a deterrent to others.

He said the move would make other congregations adhere strictly to the protocols on hand washing, use of face masks and social distancing as measures to check the spread of the virus in the state.

Announcing the new cases yesterday, Dr. Inodu, said, “Yesterday, the NCDC in its usual manner announced 307 new COVID-19 cases. Nine of these cases were samples from Bayelsa. These results are coming from a backlog of 62 samples sent to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) COVID -19 laboratory last week.

“This brings the number of confirmed cases in the state to 21. Six of these nine cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases while three are not epidemiologically linked to any of the previous cases.

“Two of these fresh unlinked cases are critically ill and were on admission in our public hospitals for other underlying illnesses (one had undergone sessions of dialysis).”

The co-chairman said the state government’s quarantine facility had since been admitting contacts who were unable to self-quarantine. “They have been very cooperative while enjoying the luxury provided at this centre.”

Meanwhile, the security sub-committee of the task force had unsealed two churches earlier shut down for violating safety measures on the pandemic.

Halleluya Deliverance Ministry International and Embassy Faith churches were unsealed after undertaking to comply with prescribed safety protocols.