Benue Governor Samuel Ortom has tested positive for COVID-19.
His Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, announced this on Wednesday.
Akase, in a statement made available to journalists in Makurdi, said:
“The latest result of his (governor Ortom) COVID-19 test has returned positive.
“This follows the test results of most of the Governor’s close aides who also returned positive in the last few weeks.
“Though the Governor has not shown any symptoms of the disease, he has already commenced treatment as prescribed by medical personnel.”
The statement added Ortom advised those who have come in contact with him in the last couple of days to go for test.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday confirmed 15 additional deaths from COVID-19 complications, bringing the total number of death toll in the country to 1,522.
The NCDC disclosed this on its official website on Tuesday.
The centre also said that 1,303 new cases of COVID-19 was recorded, bringing the total number of infection in the country to 124,299.
It stated that the new infections were reported in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The centre said that Lagos, FCT and Nasarawa recorded the highest number of COVID-19 infections on Monday, with 478 , 211 and 83 cases respectively.
Others state with new infections are Rivers-72, Kwara-42, Edo-36, Ondo-34, Benue-32, Kaduna-32, Katsina-26, Plateau-26, Kano-25, Taraba-25, Osun-22, Delta-21, Oyo-21, Niger-19, Sokoto-18, Ebonyi-17, Ekiti-14, Gombe-13, Ogun-12, Bauchi-11, Zamfara-eight, Borno-four and Jigawa-one.
The 1,270,523 people have been tested since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was recorded on Feb. 27, 2020.
The agency also announced that 917 patients have been discharged from isolation centres across the country after testing negative to the virus , raising the total number of patients discharged to 99,276.
It added that the discharged included 542 community recoveries in Lagos State, 103 in Plateau and 22 in Kwara, managed in line with NCDC guidelines.
The NCDC noted that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at Level III, is coordinating response activities nationwide.
