Covid-19: Delta Faces Herculean Task of Contact Tracing As Second Case Dies

The death of a second confirmed case in Delta State is no more news. What is news now is the seeming difficulties of tracing all those who had contacts with the deceased before his death.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, while formally announcing the death of the second Covid confirmed case in the state, disclosed that the deceased had been down with underlying health issues with severe symptoms of Covid-19 in an undisclosed hospital in the state, after his return from Lagos. He was said to  have been manifesting the Covid-19 symptoms for two weeks in Lagos without presenting himself for test prior  to his travel to Delta.

Okowa disclosed that the deceased past away before the result of his test which turns out to be positive was released.

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Said Okowa: “I have just being informed of another case of Covid-19 in Delta State.

 “The individual in question had underlying health issues and had visited Lagos State in the past two weeks.

 “The patient presented himself late to one of our hospitals with severe symptoms including difficulty in breathing and was given the necessary attention by healthcare professionals.”

According to the governor, he passed away while waiting for the result of his test.

Although Gov. Okowa had assured that the government had embarked on contact tracing to mitigate against the spread, fear has gripped Deltans that successfully tracing all the contacts with the deceased before his eventual demise several weeks after, might be a difficult task, as the victim is no more alive to give a lead as to the places he visited and the people he had contacts with before ending up in Lagos where he died.

A cross section of Deltans who spoke to our correspondent on the issues, expressed fears that the deceased may have spread the virus beyond expectation, a situation which may put countless Nigerians at a great risk.

Chief Udumebraye, a community leader in Igbudu area of Warri, who spoke to our correspondent, expressed worries that the second confirmed case in the state and his ultimate death before medical attention, indeed, calls for a serious concern by Deltans.

He said: “From the information made available by the governor, it is clear that the victim was down for so many weeks before visiting Lagos to seek for more medical attention.

“Now that he is dead, nobody knows his itinerary during the period and as it is now many who had contacts with him in the course of his search for cure may not be prepared to voluntarily present themselves for isolation and test.

“Even the hospitals he visited first before travelling to Lagos may not be prepared to volunteer information to the contact tracing team of the NCDC.

“And this puts the state in a more difficult situation more than others where confirmed cases are still alive to give information as to their movement.”

It is against this backdrop that the governor pleaded with residents of the state, relatives of individuals exhibiting the symptoms of the disease not to hide same from the authorities.

“Again, it is important that as we work to protect the citizens and residents of our state, families and friends of individuals that are exhibiting the primary symptoms of the #COVID19 virus, do not keep it from the authorities. If you see something; say something.” the governor advised.

As at the time of filing this report, the identity of the deceased and his place of residence have not been made public by the authorities even though Gov. Okowa promised to update Deltans of any development regularly.