Coronavirus: Nasarawa expands, equips Isolation Centre with additional 19 rooms

… directs closure of public, private schools for a month

Nasarawa State government says it has expanded the current isolation centre with additional 19 rooms at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, preparatory for any reported case of Covid-19. The Chief Medical Director (CDM) of the DASH, Hassan Ikrama, who disclosed this in an interview with the newsmen in Lafia, said with its proximity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the state was fully ready to control the spread of the coronavirus. According to Ikrama, the management is ready to provide more rooms for isolation should there be suspected or confirmed cases more than the present capacity, and each of the room has one bed for the isolation of one person. He said the facility being one of the tertiary health facilities in the state had been equipped with the necessary kits to handle any reported case of infectious diseases, including COVID-19. He noted that the hospital had the personnel and facilities to tackle any outbreak in case it happened, adding that the centre had been equipped with the necessary kits to handle any reported case of infectious diseases. “The response team will use the same isolation centre and facilities used for the treatment of victims that had Lassa fever. We have made adequate arrangement presently for the isolation of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19,” the CDM added. He therefore advised the public to maintain social distance and improve on personal and environmental hygiene in order not to be infected with transmitted diseases. “The response team set up by the state government to handle any reported case of COVID-19 will use the same isolation centre and facilities used for the treatment of victims that had Lassa fever. “You know that we are still dealing with Lassa fever in the state, and the preparation of the isolation centre to be able to handle cases of Lassa fever started three months ago. “So, it is the same isolation centre and facilities that we will be using to handle people suspected to be having COVID-19. “We have expanded it and moved it to another section of the hospital which is bigger and better prepared to handle any case of Lassa fever again or COVID-19,” the CMD said. Meanwhile, Ahmed Yahaya, commissioner of health in the state, recently explained that the state had dedicated six phone numbers for the public to report any suspected case of COVID-19 to the response team for prompt action. The numbers as: 08036018579, 08035871718, 08033254549, 08036201904, 08032910826, and 08121243191. The commissioner stressed that the government had put proactive measures in place to ensure that the authorities were not taken unawares in case of any suspected case. He further explained that they had already set up two response teams domiciled at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, and the Federal Medical Centre Keffi for any probable occurrence. He said the members of the public should maintain personal and environmental hygiene in order not to be infected with transmitted diseases. Also, the fear of the virus has made the state government direct the closure of all schools in the state as from Monday, for a period of one month.