Lassa fever has recorded more fatalities than the much pronounced Coronavirus disease in Ondo State as the disease has killed 80 persons since January 2020.
According to the figures given by the Acting Commissioner for Health in the State, Dr Jibayo Adeyeye, COVID-19 deaths also stand at 31.
Adeyeye gave the figures in Ondo town while hosting a team from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital on Thursday.
The team was in the hospital to inspect the ongoing Molecular Biology Laboratory and the new isolation centre.
The Acting Commissioner for Health noted that less than two per cent of COVID-19 patients in the state died, while 27 per cent of those infected with Lassa fever lost their lives.
He emphasised that the government could not afford to pay much attention to COVID-19, neglecting other health problems peculiar to the state.
Adeyeye revealed that governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu gave the directive that the laboratory should be put in place in order to effectively combat any Infectious disease occurring in the state.