A COVID-19 patient who refused to receive treatment after testing positive for the disease has been arrested at “Oja Oba” market in Akure, capital of Ondo state.

According to Wahab Adegbenro, commissioner for health, the patient, a female, tested positive for the virus in Imo state but escaped to Ondo.

Adegbenro said after her escape, both Imo and Ondo governments launched a manhunt and she was eventually found.

The commissioner said she was caught selling second hand wares inside the market.

He, however, lamented over community transmission and appealed to residents to cooperate with the government by observing the safety protocols listed by regulatory agencies in order to contain the spread of the virus.

The patient was found one day after the Imo state task force on prevention and control of COVID-19, raised the alarm that 25 persons who tested positive for the disease in the state had escaped.

Vitus Ekeocha, a member of the task force, who is also the state director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), disclosed this during an interaction with reporters.

He had said 96 travellers who disregarded the ban on interstate travel were intercepted during their journey from Imo to Delta, Rivers, Abia, Anambra, Lagos and other south-west states.

He had said after their samples were tested and results returned positive for COVID-19, they escaped.

Ekeocha said the identities and contacts of the escapees had been sent to the state governments and relevant agencies of the areas they were travelling to track them.

According to him, before the results came out, the patients had allegedly been released by the security operatives to continue their journey, not minding the implications.