Osun State Government on Saturday debunked a trending report that six patients who tested positive to coronavirus escaped from the Osun State Isolation Centre in Ejigbo, saying the only missing person has been found.
In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, only one person could not be accounted for earlier after a headcount.
“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 statement read in parts.
Meanwhile, Chief Press Secretary to Osun State Governor, Ismail Omipidan, has confirmed that the lone patient was apprehended and returned to the centre.
The patient, a woman, was apprehended in Ejigbo town and returned to the facility by the police on Saturday afternoon.