Edo opens isolation centre, to lockdown state if necessary

DETERMINED to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Edo State government will embark on the total lockdown of the state should it becomes absolutely necessary, the commissioner for health, Dr Patrick Okundia has vowed.

Okundia who spoke with journalists on Wednesday during a facility tour of the 12-bed isolation centre in Benin explained that what currently obtains in the state is a partial lockdown.

He said that Edo is bordered by several states including Delta State which are in total lockdown

He said: “So, if the other states blocked their borders, we are already protected. but when it becomes absolutely necessary, we may take that decision for a complete lockdown.”

He disclosed that the12-bed isolation centre is fully equipped with 13 ventilators and is ready to handle any case of coronavirus disease while another 28-bed isolation centre is almost completed.

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The commissioner, however, conceded that it is a small facility with a capacity of six male, six female bed capacity, and it is the reason Governor Godwin Obaseki decided to expand a bigger facility to accommodate more patients.

Okundia said: “The new isolation centre boasts of 28-bed capacity, with two large wards and up to about four private wards. The centre has been ready for operationalisation about three or four weeks now. The only thing is that no patient is here yet and currently, all the personnel are undergoing facility training.”

He said the state government will be using the Stella Obasanjo Hospital and Ogbe Nursing Home as holding centre for coronavirus patients who do not have any symptoms but have tested positive.

On the two new suspected coronavirus cases in the state, he said they are waiting for information from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to commence contact tracing.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE