No fresh case of COVID-19 in Benue – Health Commissioner -

Benue State Government has stated that there is no fresh case of Coronavirus disease in the state.

The State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Yanma Ortese, made this statement on Thursday during an interview with our correspondent.

Dr Ortese described the report as misleading, stating that the quoted representative of the World Health Organisation claimed she was misrepresented.

Recall that media reports credited to the World Health Organization announced 25 cases of fresh Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the state on a single day during a Civil Society Organizations and Media Engagement/Orientation meeting on COVID-19 Ramp-up in Makurdi on Tuesday.

Ortese clarified that the last time the state recorded a COVID-19 case was between January and April 2023, and since then, there has been no case of COVID-19 in the state.

He said, “The truth of the matter is that the representative of the World Health Organization was misrepresented.

“Earlier this year, there was a survey conducted by the APIN Initiative in Nigeria. They screened people for tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and, by extension, they added COVID-19. They found 25 people tested positive for COVID-19.

“But since then, from May 2023 till now, we have not recorded any. So, for somebody to say in December that there was a fresh case of COVID-19 is not accurate. The woman who said that claimed she was being misrepresented.”

The Commissioner further stated that as of December 10th, 2023, the state had achieved a vaccination coverage of COVID-19 by 56.6 percent.