Okowa Lauds FG for Halting International Flights
Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has commended the federal government for halting international flights into the country as part of measures to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the stoppage of international flights and closure of land borders would stem the spread of the dreaded disease in the country.
Okowa told journalists after inspecting facilities at the Isolation Centre for the pandemic at the Central Hospital, Asaba, yesterday, that with the preventive measures being put in place by the state government, the state was ready to battle the disease if any case was recorded in the state.
He urged the people of the state and Nigerians to adhere to precautionary instructions and maintain personal hygiene and social distancing, saying that such measures would help in averting contact and spread the coronavirus.
According to the governor, “we have gone through the Isolation Centre and the Holding Rooms and you can see that the centre is fully ready. Other facilities to ensure that the health staff are safe have also been fully installed.
He said, “we have ventilators in place and more will be installed within the week. The important thing is ensuring the comfort of the patient but also ensuring that the health staff members are safe. We have proper changing rooms, with personal protective wears also in place.
“We now have two centres in Asaba alone; you will recall that a week ago I inspected the purpose-built Isolation Centre at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, built by the Delta State Government.
“Beyond these two centres that are ready, we are also establishing another one at the Teaching Hospital in Oghara. The Medical Director has made necessary arrangements for a secluded part of the hospital. They already have their Dialysis machines and we have also released funds for the quality of water needed for the machines.
“We are also establishing a centre in Warri. By tomorrow (today), all works that need to be done to put the ward in good shape would have been completed and the necessary equipment will be deployed for the purpose of being able to attend to would-be patients if and in case we have the coronavirus in the state.
``We are preparing; we don’t have to wait till we have a case. We thank the federal government for stopping international flights and closing the land borders; that is one good thing we have done, but I think we should have done that earlier than we did.