Over 700 suspected persons are in Ebonyi State at the State’s isolation centre at the state’s holding area.
They were rounded up across the state especially at the borders as they made to enter Ebonyi state from states with high risk areas.
Governor of the state, David Umahi stated this after a joint Security/Covid-19 Committee meeting.
The governor spoke in Abakaliki, the State Capital in a live briefing to the people of the state on the state’s broadcast stations.
He said the 700 persons under isolation are being kept at the Pa Oruta Ngele Township Stadium Abakaliki.
On the five confirmed cases in the state, the Governor said they are responding to treatment at the State’s isolation centre at Unity Square Abakaliki.
Mr Umahi said that another 300 bed isolation centre built by the state government at Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki is ready and will be handed over to the hospital in the next 10 days.
He however said the state government has decided to decentralise the isolation procedure to the 64 Development Centres and the 13 local government areas.
“From henceforth anybody entering the state should be taken to the nearest development centre and quarantined there”
“While there they will attended to and monitored by the medical teams 24 hours of the day. Anyone who manifests symptoms of Covid-19 will then be brought to Abakaliki holding centre for tests”, he said.
The Governor said the new method will place the responsibility of detecting returnees on every community.
He charged community leaders and indeed every resident of the state to take the task serious.
“You are not doing yourself family or community a favour if you allow any returnee stay at home without coming to the isolation centre. If the persons has it then he will likely spread it to more people in your area. So it is better you help bring such persons to any of the development centres for isolation”, he advised.