Yinka Adeniran, IbadanThe immediate past Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Temitope Alonge has debunked the insinuations that Oyo State is not adequately prepared for the ravaging novel Coronavirus in the state.
Alonge spoke on the heels of media reports in a section of the media that the state is not doing enough in terms of preparation and readiness in the likelihood of the spread of the virus.
Addressing journalists after a tour of the Oyo State Infectious Disease Centre, formerly Abiola Ajimobi maternal and paediatric centre, Olodo where work is in top gear, Alonge who said he had the mandate of the Oyo State government to assist the state’s Ministry of Health Management Board in setting up the Infectious Disease Isolation Centre said the government is doing more by the day to ensure it combats the pandemic coronavirus in the State.
The Centre is a planned 100 bed space isolation centre with work at about eighty percent completion.
He said “We have taken delivery of over 600 Personal Protective Equipment procured by the state. We are expecting over 3000 more in the next few days.
“We are also expecting some anaesthetic machines attached with ventilators in addition to the already secured four ventilators.
“All our ventilators are on solar inverters which will ensure that no patient suffers in case of power disruption.
“We have procured three set of 5KVA inverters. One will power our High Dependency Unit (HDU) and Resuscitation Unit, another one will power the ventilators while the last one will be for the lightings of the entire Centre.
“This does not preclude the generators and other sources of power installed in the facility.
“The centre is installed with over 60 close circuit cameras while we are also creating four special rooms for people with travel history and who might want to self-isolate.
“Oyo State government under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde is leaving no stone unturned in its fight against coronavirus in the state, and it would be unfair to say the government is not ready to curb the spread of the pandemic disease.
“It is not true that the government is doing nothing to fight coronavirus and It is not fair on the Governor, who is the chairperson of the task force that has been set up in the fight against this virus.
“He is chairing it with everything he has, he is in control and he has taken sound advice from experts. As it stands the requirements for the takeoff of a bigger surge is in place, the Agbami centre has a ten-bed space, which is why this centre has been created and it will be ready in the next five days.
“We only need to put in some finishing touches, like Oxygen, running water and Solar panel system. We also have a small mortuary because not everyone will survive but we don’t pray for anyone to die. In a setting like this, people are bound to die and we have to provide them with decent storage.”
Also speaking, the Director, Planning, Resources and Statistics, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Abass Gbolahan said the government is working with UCH to curb the virus.
He noted that the current isolation centers at Jericho, UCH, Ojoo barracks are adequate for the cases currently in the state but that the infection diseases centre is a larger facility in case of emergency.
“UCH has been a partner in the management of pandemics in the state; we have an Isolation centre there too.
“The Executive Governor has also supported UCH in creating a testing centre, so we don’t have to take samples all the way from here to Lagos.
“Looking at our level of preparation before Covid-19, we were safe. Oyo state is fully prepared. The first thing in any emergency or epidemic cases like this is to have a team and Oyo State Epidemic Awareness and Rapid Response Team on ground before the epidemic.
“We have other partners that we are also working and meeting regularly and what the state did immediately was to create a roadmap and responsibilities to each committee member. The Governor had approved the creation of Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) which has been operational and work 24hours a day with their phone lines.
“We also have places designated as Isolation Centres. One of them is at Jericho. As I speak with you, the index case that we have is there with all the necessary facilities and doing the person is doing well,” he said.
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