The Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force has assured the people of the State that the newly created 100-bed State Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo would be ready for use on Monday.
The government also said it had received close to a hundred million naira as endowment fund from willing donors in the fight against COVID-19.
It noted that the State was already considering modalities for giving palliatives to the people of the State to cushion the effect of the hardship occasioned by the partial lockdown of the State.
The Acting Chairman of the Task Force, Prof. Temitope Alonge, gave the assurance on the progress made so far in the fight against Coronavirus in the State.
He was accompanied by some members of the Task Force including the Commissioner of Finance, Mr Akinola Ojo; Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security CP Fatai Owoseni and Director, Planning, Resources and Statistics, Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Abass Gbolahan.
Alonge, who was the immediate past Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, was appointed by Governor Makinde to continue to head the Committee in his absence after he tested positive for the virus last week.
Job assessment
Rating the level of the job done at the Centre to be above eighty percent, Alonge noted that stepping in for the Governor in the capacity of the Chairman was a big task but which must be done in order to ensure that information available to the people of the State are correct, accurate and as precise as can be.
He stated that the Infectious Disease Centre in Olodo, which he described as the main anchor of the cases of COVID-19 in the State, “is almost set to begin to receive the first set of patients effective from Monday because we have made some adjustments to the entire Centre and I can take you through the flow.”
Alonge said, “The two issues that the Task Force in Oyo State has been able to achieve is that the functionality of the Task Force through the EOC is not focusing a hundred percent on treatment but on actual prevention and education of the people and that is why you have seen us go round the markets, distributed materials to the local government authorities primarily to let the people know that prevention is actually better than cure.”
Preventive measures
He reiterated that if people maintain all the preventive measures that have been put in place and are being hammered upon on a regular basis by the members of the Task Force, the treatment centre would be less burdened.
Alonge disclosed that the Task Force is working at the Governor’s mandate being carried out as it is ensuring that the health workers on the field are not only optimally protected but that they also have all that is required.
“As I speak, we have 600 personal protective equipment, we have procured three sets 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,” he said.
Also speaking, the State Commissioner of Finance, Mr Akinola Ojo, thanked the people of the State and Nigerians generally for their contributions to the Oyo State COVID-19 Endowment Fund that has been set up in partnership with three different banks, namely, First Bank, UBA and Unity Bank.
“Currently, we have several hundred pledges and as of today Wednesday, we have close to a hundred million already deposited in these three accounts…What we want to let everyone know clearly is that only those three accounts are the designated accounts for any donation for Oyo State. Also, we must thank those who donated in-kind and materials,” Ojo said.
In his remarks, CP Owoseni said the State had achieved about 90 percent of enforcement of the curfew, adding that the security operatives deployed for the enforcement are mindful of human rights and avoiding abuse.
Source: VON
