Lagos State, Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwoolu, says the State government would be meeting with Governors of neighboring States on Monday.
This is to draw up strategies in scaling up advocacy on the Coronavirus and to also design more community-based approaches that would prevent the spread of the virus.
The Governor maintained that the State had stepped up the level of sensitization and advocacy among residents at the grassroots, stressing that the effort would be followed up by a series of stakeholders’ meetings during the week.
Sanwoolu spoke on Sunday during his visit to the State-owned bio-security and containment facility at Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, Lagos Mainland, where the Italian national diagnosed with COVID-19 is being quarantined.
Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso and Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, during an inspection visit to the Emergency Operations Centre and Biosecurity Unit at Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital Yaba, on Sunday, March 1, 2020.
Governor Sanwoolu who re-assured Nigerians that the State remains committed to preventing COVID-19 from the further spread, following the index case reported last Friday, said that both the State and Federal Government healthcare officials had been working with professionals from the international agencies to ensure the countermeasures being deployed to contain the virus achieves the desired results.
“Let me express a confession that I am very delighted with the level of preparedness and our response to stop coronavirus from spreading in our country. The kind of structures we have put in place and the strategies being deployed have raised my confidence that the nation, at the end of the day, will win this battle and will put it behind. I keep on expressing to the Commissioner for Health that we must stop at nothing to achieve the very best result,” the governor said.
Reacting to the report of the scarcity of sanitary materials at pharmacy shops across the State, the Governor condemned the action, saying it was wicked for people to take advantage of emergency situations to hoard face mask and hand sanitizer or jerk up their prices.
“This should not be a means for anyone to enrich themselves. It is unfortunate people are hoarding these important sanitary materials. We need to speak to ourselves. People are just abusing a rare opportunity because the outbreak is not an event everybody wishes for. I think it is unacceptable for people to sell above the prices they used to sell before the outbreak. These people should search their conscience and ask themselves what kind of people they are. We should be our brother’s keeper.”
Sanwo-Olu also frowned at misinformation trailing the COVID-19 case being managed at the IDH, saying the public deserves to get accurate information about the management of the patient in isolation.
He, however, urged media practitioners to approach the appropriate quarters for updates and developments on the case being managed.
Source: VON
