Enugu State Government on Wednesday celebrated survivors of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the state.
The celebration followed the launch of the ‘COVID-19 Heroes and Heroins Campaign’ by the state government.
The Deputy Governor, Mrs Cecelia Ezilo, said that the event was to bring to the fore the dangers of contracting the virus and to reinforce the call for strict adherence to the safety protocols.
Ezilo said that out of the 2, 287 confirmed cases in the state, 1, 923 patients had recovered and discharged with 285 cases still active.
“Unfortunately, we have lost 29 patients as a result of complications of COVID-19. However, before us are survivors of the pandemic,” she said.
The deputy governor said that the survivors were able to pull through in spite of the rumours and misinformation surrounding the scourge and the general hardship in the country.
Ezilo said that the survivors comprised of citizens from different walks of life who were either treated at home or at the isolation centre by experienced physicians.
She appealed to residents of the state to continue to adhere to the preventive measures put in place to check the spread of the virus.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Enugu State Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeanyi Akujiobi, said that the survivors needed to be celebrated to prove that contracting the virus was not a death sentence.
Akujiobi praised the survivors for using the public health facilities and isolation centres in the state even amidst stigmatisation.
He commended the state government for its efforts at ensuring that health facilities were on ground for the treatment of the virus and thanked the medical experts for their selfless services.
The Coordinator, Park Lane Isolation Centre, Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Dr Okechukwu Ogbodo encouraged residents of the state to get vaccinated.
The representative of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Ada Erinne, said that over 127 million cases had been confirmed globally as at March 30, 2021.
Erinne said that 2.7 million deaths had been reported to the WHO while 520 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered globally within the same time.
