COVID-19: Cross River State Government Cautions Against False Information

Oru Leonard

The Cross River State government has cautioned the public against spreading false and scary information on the COVID-19 pandemic, in the state.

A release made available by Christian Ita, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor stated, “Information reaching the Cross River state ministry of health and the COVID- 19 response situation room has shown evidence of artificial scare created by some members of the fifth columnist who believe that by causing false scare, certain Local Governments will receive more funding and support than others or more attention than others.”

Mr Ita referred to a report on two ladies who returned from Italy through Cameroon and died of Corona virus at Bomaji village in Eastern Boki after infecting some persons, and urged the public to completely disregard this information as a distraction in the fight against COVID -19.

“First we must clearly state that our dear State is COVID-19 Free and this has become a source of worry for some persons who believe by their speculations the state should have recorded several cases. Some Persons have gone as far as signing and circulating false press release claiming it was under signed by the Honorable Commissioner For Health or Chief Press Secretary to Governor, just in a bid to mislead the public and cause chaos.

“As a responsive proactive Government under Senator Ben Ayade, we have always sent several samples of suspected case who meet the NCDC Criteria, last week all samples sent came back negative. We will continue to send samples if we find cases which meet the criteria”, he explained.

The CPS further said, that Disease Surveillance and notifications Officers in Boki have been sent to follow up on the case and found same to be false as no previous medical history was suggestive of Corona Virus disease. “NOT ALL DEATH THIS PERIOD IS FROM CORONA VIRUS!” he added.

Mr Ita noted that the Governor of Cross River State, Prof Ben Ayade is proactive and has provided for taskforce in all the border communities, maned by Commissioners and their team members, working with security agencies to keep our borders closed to Cameroonians.

He advised members of the public not to panic or circulate false rumors, stay at home and ensure their hands are washed often as this will help keep the state COVID -19 free.