While states and communities in the country are battling to contain the spread of the Coronavirus in their local government areas and communities, some health experts have wondered why, for over seven months after the first index case was confirmed in the state on February 27, Remo North Local Government Area has not recorded any confirmed case of COVID -19 infection or related death, writes ERNEST NWOKOLO
The dreadful Coronavirus has infected about 1,850 people in Ogun State with just six of its 20 local governments areas accounting for 1, 605 of the cases as of September 30.
The local government areas are Abeokuta South (292 cases and 10 deaths), Ado – Odo-Ota (684 and five deaths), Sagamu (482 and six deaths), Ikenne (68 and two deaths) Obafemi Owode (46 with no death) and Ijebu-Ode (33 with 1 death) — the same six that have been at the top for months with the populous Ado – Odo – Ota consistently maintaining the epicentre role in the disease infection rate ever since.
It is only in the number of deaths that Abeokuta South which hosts the state capital has unenviably beaten Ado – Odo – Ota to it, recording 10 deaths out of the total of 28 COVID -19-related deaths to the worries of many.
Also, The Nation gathered that of the said 1,850 confirmed cases, infected health care workers constitute 180 cases while four of the health care workers that tested positive for the pandemic in the state had also died due to complications arising from Coronavirus.
Further checks reveal that the number of asymptomatic cases stands at 1,741 while the symptomatic have equally risen to 83.
Those on admission in the state are 285. Of this number, 50 have mild cases, 40 have moderate cases while the number of cases with co-morbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, immuno-suppressed (cancer, HIV), sickle cell among others are 54.
Also, a total of 1,727 cases have been discharged since February 2020 while the number of initial samples collected for laboratory testing stood at 8,335 with 6,492 of them turning out negative.
However, some health experts watching the COVID -19-related statistics in the Gateway State have also identified another surprising and curious angle to the pandemic.
Seven months and a week after the first index case was confirmed in the state on February 27, Remo North Local Government Area has curiously soldiered on without any confirmed case of COVID -19 infection or related death in the area till date. Those indigenous to the town and residents are not surprised by this development.
Remo North Local Government Area with its headquarters at Isara co-habits towns and town-lets including Ode -Remo, Isara, Ipara, Akaka, Saapade, Ode, Iraye, Eposo, Are, Ogunmogbo, Ilara and Orile -Oko.
The old Ibadan road and the federal road passed through the outskirts of the towns and town-lets within the council.
It has an area of 199 km² and a population of 59,911 according to the 2006 census figures from the National Population Commission (NPC) and the area situates at a strategic position.
The people maintain physical structural planning that enhances the practice of their insular culture of cleanliness, custom, faith in home remedies and safe environment devoid of congestion or residential clustering.
At a public gathering in Ode -Remo, one of the towns in the council, our correspondent observed that those indigenous to the town pride themselves of being fortunate to have a local government that has been spared of the apprehension, infection and death associated with the Coronavirus pandemic.
Its zero-figure status regarding COVID -19 is puzzling to many outsiders, given that the surrounding local governments have all been affected by the pandemic.
The questions being asked currently are: do those indigenous to Remo North and residents have immunity against the virus? What could explain why the local government was immune to the epidemic unlike other parts of the state?
A United Kingdom-based Chartered Accountant and a native of Ode – Remo, Dapo Oshinyemi said: “The way of life of his people might account for the COVID-19 zero-status for Remo North.”
Oshinyemi described his people as “very careful and who watch what they do and keep a safe distance.”
The politician, who is the treasurer of the UK chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), however, said with adequate testing, the true picture of what the situation is in Remo North would emerge.
He explained that while the lockdown lasted, he was around and provided palliatives while also encouraging his people to faithfully adhere to the pandemic safety protocols.
Nonetheless, an epidemiologist who spoke to our correspondent in confidence said it is not Uhuru yet, even as he urged the people not to rejoice or lay down their guard.
Also, a health care worker with the Epidemiology Unit, Ogun State Ministry of Health who didn’t want her name in print said no testing had taken place in Remo North which informed why there is yet no official record of any case there.
“In the absence of a test, nothing will be recorded for the local government about the Coronavirus. The community testing in the state had stopped but we want to resuscitate it soon. Until that is done, we won’t be able to ascertain the true position of things at Remo North,” the source told The Nation.
But does that also explain why there are no strange deaths or strange illnesses in the area since then? The health care worker still called for caution until the people are tested for their statuses to be ascertained.
Expectedly, the State government said it would commence community-based COVID-19 testing not only in Remo North but also in other local government areas in order to increase its test rate.
The Commissioner for Health, Tomi Coker said the decision was aimed at improving early case detection and treatment of both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.
Coker also said the exercise, which had commenced on October 8, 2020, is free, even as he revealed that there will be mobile testing in five major markets in each local government area before stationing it at the designated Primary Health care Centre.
Critical stakeholders such as ward/community leaders had been engaged to solicit their support, disseminate the information in communities and assist in mobilising the people for the testing.
The Nation gathered that “samples collection will be carried out in one specified primary health care centre (PHC) in each local government area while health personnel have also been trained specifically for the purpose.
“Once samples have been collected from the villagers, the health personnel would transfer them to the designated laboratory within the state for testing.
“The method will not only lead to increased testing but also will help in revealing the true burden of the disease in the state vis-à-vis positivity rate, if any, especially in Remo North Local Government Area where no case of COVID -19 has been recorded since the first index case was confirmed in Nigeria on February 27, 2020.”
Emphasising the importance of the exercise, Coker urged residents to present themselves for the testing exercise.
The testing will be carried out five days a week for the next three months simultaneously in all the local government areas.
“Evidence has shown that increased testing, including those done within communities, will improve case detection, ascertain the true status of infectivity and thus help in limiting the spread of the infection, particularly through unrecognised local transmission. This is a lesson we have learned from countries such as South Korea.
“Increased testing has helped in achieving the success we have attained thus far. However, we need to intensify our efforts to multiply the gains and have a better understanding of the pattern of the virus,” she said.
But people think differently. They said the area does not have a population density which is a critical factor that favours the rapid spread of the virus or illness among the people as witnessed in Ado-Odo-Ota, Sagamu or Abeokuta South.
The people also explained that crowding has been identified as a factor that makes social distancing difficult or impossible to observe, and that increases the risk of COVID-19 infection and its spread.
They concluded that since crowding is absent in their communities, it should be understood why there is zero-case of COVID -19 in Remo North Local Government Area.
A woman leader in Ode -Remo, Mrs Christiana Ade -Ogunsola said the secret of the zero-status state in Remo North Local Government Area is the multi-disciplinary approach which the leaders adopted.
Mrs Ade-Ogunsola said they are Ijebu people, explaining that since ages, the COVID-19 or viral infection is not new.
She said COVID -19 is usually classified as “hay fever” by the Ijebu and that the people, from generation to generation, have home remedies for it, stressing that the people have been using traditional remedies to cure any case of “hay fever.”
“Ijebu believes COVID -19 is hay fever and we know the native medicine for it. We believe in African medicine. That is what we use and drink regularly and we also observe the state government’s directive on COVID -19 protocols.
“So, while we use local remedies for prevention, we also wear face masks, keep corporeal distancing and wash our hands with soap and running water or apply hand sanitiser. That is why the illness is not in our area,” she spoke through an interpreter.
Publisher of The Reflection, a community-based magazine, who doubles as the Secretary to the Eleposo -In -Council, Prince Juwon Opayemi identified adherence to directives of the state government, Presidential Task Force (PTF) and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as to why there are no cases of Coronavirus reported in his local government.
“We are very conscious of what we do. That is why none of us is a victim. Our community leaders are people who understand the importance of informed advice. We are always safety-conscious and this is rooted in our culture.
“That there are no COVID -19 cases in our communities is not as a result of juju or traditional thing. It is because we are a people that listen to and follow medical advice,” Juwon said.
For the monarch of Ode-Remo, Oba Adetunji Amidu Osho, it is the act of God and adherence to safety protocols.
He said: “First of all, we have to thank God for keeping us and our children safe from the pandemic. It is not our own making but because we trust in God. We adhere and comply strictly with the rules and regulations about this pandemic.
“If you hearken to the voice of God and follow medical advice, the illness will not affect you. We have been warned and told what to do to stay safe. And we are a people who follow safety measures. We don’t dare danger.”
However, his Isara counterpart, the Odemo of Isara, Oba Albert Mayungbe, revealed that the people also apply the traditional method to keep the area and residents safe.
“We have been performing some rites regularly to ward off the pandemic. We carried out one of such rites recently. All of such are meant to keep evil and infectious diseases away from the community,” he told The Nation.
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