Osun State Government has revealed that the missing coronavirus patient who escaped from the Isolation Centre in Ejigbo has been apprehended and returned to the centre.
Reports had earlier emerged on Saturday morning that six of the patients at the Coronavirus Isolation Centre in the Ejigbo area of the state were missing.
However, a statement by the Chief Press Secretary of the state governor, Ismail Omipidan, dismissed the report and said after headcount, only one person could not be accounted for.
Omipidan said the missing patient, a woman, was apprehended in Ejigbo town and returned to the facility by the police on Saturday afternoon.
“Our attention has been drawn to a story purporting that six persons were missing from our Isolation Centre in Ejigbo.
“One of the writers quoted a non-existent statement from the government to lend some measure of credibility to the story.
“Nothing can be further from the truth. As a government, we have not issued any statement to confirm or deny such a story. Besides, a quick check showed that the name and number of the first person on the list of the purported missing patients are indeed currently in our facility in Ejigbo.
“Recall that about a week ago, we received 127 returnees from Ivory Coast and we have kept them since then to avoid community transfer of the virus.
“This morning we embarked on a headcount and found out that only one person could not be accounted for by officials stationed at the Isolation Centre out of the 127 persons.
“The State Government is currently investigating the matter and will ensure that the missing person is brought back to the Isolation Centre and we will also ensure we trace all his contacts.
“We want to reiterate that any official(s) found culpable will also be dealt with accordingly.
“We implore members of the public to discountenance the alarm being raised. We will continue to do everything to protect the lives of our citizens in this fight against Coronavirus.”
Meanwhile, Osun currently has 22 cases of the coronavirus, making it the state with the third-highest number of infections in the country after Lagos and Abuja which have 108 and 41 cases respectively.
The number of people who have recovered from the disease in the country has risen to 25 with 210 cases.
