He said that a team of medical officials had been dispatched on a rigorous tracing of contacts of the cases, adding that the exercise would cover Ukwa West, Ikwuano and Umuahia North Local Government Areas.

According to him, the exercise would begin in the council areas because the index cases had been associated with the areas in the recent past.

Ikpeazu said that Abia government, as part of its effort to prevent further spread of the virus, would embark on massive community testing and take samples from ward to ward.

The governor said that the private clinic where one of the index cases was managed had been closed for proper disinfection, while the staff had been advised to self-isolate until their test results returned.

He said: “The significance of the index cases in Abia is multiple-fold as the first implication is the clarity of the fact that COVID-19 is real.

“The second one is that a close study of the patients indicates that they are septuagenarians; one is 70 years old while the other is 72 years old.

“Incidentally they have no history of travel, at least in the recent past. This looks like a community transmission unless the study we are currently undertaking proves otherwise.”

Ikpeazu noted that the index cases had underlying health issues which include diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure.

The governor said that the days ahead would be difficult, adding that it called for more courage and commitment from the people of Abia.

He said that the state government would provide Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) for medical and paramedical officers on the front line of the battle against COVID-19.

Ikpeazu said government would send additional PPE and equipment including oxygen concentrators and pressure monitors to Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, to support its efforts in managing the index cases.

The governor said that the use of face mask had become compulsory for residents and urged them to observe the preventive guidelines given by health officials to remain safe from the disease.

He said government would treat any individual that undermined its efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as a saboteur, adding that defaulters would be made to feel the full weight of the law.

Ikpeazu said that he was optimistic that the medical officials at the frontline would live up to expectation and urged the people to stay home and remain calm.