Coronavirus: Imo releases quarantined hotel guests, workers

The Imo State government on Saturday released the members of staff and guests of Fancy Hotel in Umuguma, Owerri-West Local Government Area of the state who were quarantined two weeks ago following concerns that they may have been exposed to possible Coronavirus infection after they were confirmed being free of the virus.

The state government had sealed the hotel two weeks ago and barred members of staff and guests  from going out of the hotel based on information that the  owner of the hotel, Aguwa Osuagwu, visited there upon his return from a trip to South Africa, raising fears that he might be a COVID-19 carrier hence the need to isolate those who were there when he visited.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy,  Hon.   Declan Emelumba, who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, said that the government effected the release of the affected persons after 14 days of isolation because none of them manifested signs or symptoms of the virus.

He assured that the peculiar case of the said Osuagwu did not expose anyone living in Imo to the danger of Coronavirus.

Emelumba also disclosed that Osuagwu had had a long battle with complex heart condition and lung failure after he was shot in the chest sometime around 2012.

He said that by the time Osuagwu visited Owerri he did not have Coronavirus and that his two relatives in his village he stayed with during his visit have all tested negative to the virus, adding that his wife and children who were with him and the driver who drove him around have all tested negative to the virus.

The information commissioner advised Imo people to  discountenance the misinformation by detractors and remain rest assured that the Osuagwu saga never exposed any person in Imo to the danger of the virus. (Sunday Sun)