Delta state commissioner for information, Charles Aniagwu, on Thursday said that the federal government pleaded with corporate organisations in the country to assist state governments in the fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic which swept through all states of the country, hit Delta state with 1780 people infected across several local government areas of the state. The two states that were proving not to have the virus, Kogi and Cross River were hit with the virus after months of trying to remain virus free.
In the media briefing held at the state information conference centre, the commissioner told journalists that following the wave of the pandemic across borders, the federal government decided to appeal to corporate bodies to lend helping hands to states so as to crush the deadly virus.
Aniagwu mentioned some of the corporate bodies that assisted Delta state as Chevron, BUA, SPDC, NNPC, CACOVID and some philanthropic individuals. He said these corporate organisations donated drugs, vehicles, food items and others as part corporate social responsibility to the state.
When asked to state figures as per amount disbursed by the federal government to the state, he said N100milion was given to the state but more is still being processed. He added that the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is an arm of the federal government, so any assistance rendered by the agency is deemed to have been rendered by the federal government.
In the briefing, he said cases have flattened but there are active cases in the state. He said people have found how to cope by taking prescribed precautions and that caregivers have also put in their best for Deltans.
He said businesses are gradually being opened because life must go on, noting that people’s understanding has improved, prejudice has reduced, hence the decision to open up the economy was based on this understanding.
“We are interested in the economy bouncing back, but we are more interested in the lives of our people. As time goes on, we will continue to review protocols. But it is not safe for keke riders to carry people in front with them,” he said.
The commissioner said as at Thursday, September 10, 2020, a total of 1780 cases were confirmed in Delta with 1600 discharged, 48 deaths and less than 180 still active and being attended to by medical personnel. He said attention is now being given to home care and it is yielding good result.
On school resumption, he said the state is not in a hurry to send children back to school. For him, all safety conditions must be put in all schools before full resumption of schools across the state.
“We must guarantee safety before resuming. They can’t go back to school to learn and come back sick. We need to activate all safety conditions before we resume. We are interested in our children going back to school but we ensure all conditions are in place before we take that decision,” Aniagwu said.
