BENIN CITY – The Edo State Government has intensified campaigns against the spread of coronavirus and has deployed health officials to the Benin Airport and all the motor parts in the state to screen travelers coming into the state.
The state Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu said this during a meeting with stakeholders in the health sector and the representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), at Government House, in Benin City.
Shaibu said, “Coronavirus is completely different from Lassa Fever. Contact is also there, but the sneezing and coughing is one critical thing we need to look at. From the state government end, we are very cautious of those entering our state.
“We are also looking at the motor parks and the Benin Airport. We need to start our screening from all the entry points into the state. Our health workers and our partners will be deployed to these flash points.
“If any case is reported in any of the motor parks or the airport; if any passenger is suspected, our team in these parks will have to quarantine them. We will also commence temperature check in our motor parks and the Benin airport, to be sure that those coming in and out are free from the disease.
The deputy governor noted, “We will intensify public sensitisation on Monday. The purpose of this meeting is really to step up the level of preparedness from our health experts.”
He added that the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital is going to be a center for screening of any suspected cases of coronavirus, adding “We need to know how prepared they are. The public also needs to know that Irrua Specialist hospital is one of those hospitals that any suspected case will be taken for screening.
In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director of Irrua Specialist Hospital, Prof. Sylvanus Okogbeni, assured that the hospital is capable of carrying out diagnosis.
Okogbeni noted that because of the way coronavirus spreads without symptoms, a patient can still spread it, adding, “a large number of people are going to be quarantine for a long time, we can educate people on self-quarantine.”
The State Coordinator of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mrs Faith Ireye, appealed that the manifest of the airline that boarded the Italian man should be made available to the Edo State Government, adding that Italy is the second home of Edo people.
The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia, at an earlier press Conference, said the state government has already put measures in place to check the spread of the novel coronavirus fever which can be transmitted from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient.
Okundia noted the government is sensitising staff of the Benin Airport on the screening modalities for air travelers, adding, “There are ongoing awareness creation and sensitisation campaign on the novel coronavirus in various news media as well as sensitisation of healthcare workers across the health facilities in the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State.
He advised residents to contact the following numbers for more information: Director of Disease Control on 08084096723; State Epidemiologist on 08064258163, Acting State DSNO on 07015216386, and the WHO State Coordinator on 08035835529.
