NEW CASES OF COVID -19 WERE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN RIVERS STATE

 Rivers State Government on Wednesday identified about the  third case of coronavirus as a 61-year-old resident of the state.

The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Princewill Chike, told newsmen in Port Harcourt, that the latest case, a hotel manager, was said to have cared for his boss, the owner of the hotel, who took ill and died after returning to the State from Abuja in February.

He said, “The 61-year-old hotel manager had attended to his boss, the owner of Mingi Suites, who returned from Abuja in February 2020.

“The rapid response team was notified of the sudden and mysterious death of the owner of the hotel last week and decided to place all his contacts under watch.

“The positive confirmed case is a resident of Rivers State, a manager in one of the hotel suites in the state.

“Once the testing guidelines were expanded, samples were collected from the hotel manager for COVID-19 testing. His result is the positive sample for COVID-19 in the state.”The man He explained that the patient was currently being evacuated to the treatment centre for further management, adding that all his contacts and timelines were being followed up.

The commissioner also warned private health facilities against treating suspected COVID-19 cases without authorisation.

He said, “Any private health facility, pharmacist or chemist caught by the Ministry of Health, treating COVID-19 patients would be shut down and taken over by the state government, except that private health facility is accredited and permitted to treat COVID-19 patients.”

Meanwhile, the state Governor, Nyesom Wike, has distributed foodstuffs to the less privileged in Omuma Local Government Area of the state.

Wike, who was represented by the Chairman of Rivers State Palliatives Committee, Desmond Akawor, said the palliatives were meant for the less privileged irrespective of their political party or association.

He said, “It is not meant for any political party. It is meant for all Rivers people and it is a means of the state government to support in this very difficult time.”