The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has revealed that there was no record of the Indian COVID-19 variant in the State, as was earlier speculated on social media.

Obaseki stated this in Benin on Friday at a news conference while providing updates on the COVID-19 response in Edo.

The governor was represented by Dr Osamwonyi Irowa, the state Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health.

He explained that the Federal Government had, on April 26, taken precautionary steps by restricting international travels from India, Turkey and Brazil to curb COVID-19.

He said, “We as a government reached out to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) with regard to Indian variant in Edo and the verified information reveals that the said sample was collected in January.

“There is currently no update or report suggestive of any such occurrence or new case of COVID-19 reported within Edo in the past 96 hours.

“Edo has witnessed a 12.9 per cent drop in the number of infected persons comparatively.”

He added, “A total of 185 persons have died, with no new case reported in the past 48 hours across the State.