Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has advocated compulsory washing and sanitising of hand by everyone coming to Nigeria, as part of measures aimed at containing the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
Prince Abiodun, who gave the directive in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, when he played host to officials from the Africa Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), also called for stepping up of advocacy in all parts of the country.
Goverrnor Abiodun while describing COVID-19 as no respecter of anybody, he said that Nigeria should take a cue from other nations who insist that people coming to their countries must wash, sanitise their hands, take vaccine and go through thorough screening before they are allowed into such countries.
He said, "Other countries seem to be more aggressive in terms of steps taken to contain the disease. I think it would be nice for us to compel people coming to our country to wash their hands before presenting any documents to official at the airports. Pne of the things I realise is that we must step up advocacy"
Prince Abiodun while regretting that some people might not be aware of how dangerous the virus is, hinted that the State government is looking at how to set up a Bio-security centre for quick testing, adding that efforts are being intensified to adequately equip Isolation Centres in the State, to respond quickly to circumstances that require clinical attention.
The Governor thanked the NCDC for its prompt response by donating needed items, noting that a multi-sectorial team, made up of the media and government officials, has been set up to respond appropriately should the situation become epidemic.
Also speaking, the Head, Africa Regional Office, World Health Organization, Prof. Bola Olayinka, said the mission of the World body is to support countries to respond to infections and promote healthy living among its people.
She said the Organization is working with Nigeria through the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Ogun State Ministry of Health by providing technical guidelines on how to deal, control and prevent the Coronavirus, noting that they are aware of the case and those being monitored.
Prof. Olayinka commended the State for its proactiveness, by moving rapidly to ensure containment, assuring that her team would assist the State develop messages that would help people know what they needed to do to protect themselves as well as instruct healthcare givers on how to detect cases and how to safely manage them.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, who also spoke at the Occasion, explained that Emergency Operation Centre had been established, Multi Disciplinary team activated, while the State received support from partners on contact tracing.
She said a nine-man team from the State led by an Infectious Consultant, is currently under studying the care of the Index Case in Lagos, to ensure that the State build capacity to manage the situation, adding that the 40 isolated contacts have not develop fever, symptoms nor Coronavirus.
The team leader from NCDC, Dr. Oladipo Ogunbode, said the Centre would assess the Isolation Centre, using National Assessment Tools to know and evaluate the State of preparedness and response level in order to use the gap in developing an Incident Action Plan on things to be done in the next one month.
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