The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia has disclosed that the newly built, ultra-modern Stella Obasanjo Hospital Isolation Center (SOHIC) is ready to receive cases of COVID-19 in the state.
In a chat with journalists in Benin City, the commissioner said health workers and other medical personnel have been deployed to the facility, which is now serving as the state’s main isolation centre.
Okundia said that while the Stella Obasanjo Hospital, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Auchi General Hospital in Edo North and the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in Edo Central are serving as screening centres, construction of more screening centres are ongoing with three expected in each Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
The commissioner, however, urged residents to complement the state government’s efforts at preventing further spread of the infectious disease by observing precautionary measures and complying with guidelines against the spread of the virus.
According to him, “Edo State is ready to handle cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state. The Stella Obasanjo Hospital Isolation Center (SOHIC) is ready to receive cases of COVID-19 and staff have been deployed, while cases of confirmed COVID-19 in the state are being managed at UBTH, Benin and ISTH, Irrua.
“Also, the continuous training of Health Care Workers across the 18 LGAs on COVID-19 response is ongoing, and they would be deployed to the isolation centres at the LGAs. We have 30 ventilators that have been distributed across the isolation centres in the state. One unique thing about the Stella Obasanjo Hospital is that it has an incinerator, which would be used to dispose the materials from the infectious disease treatments.”
Okundia added, “As the state government intensifies efforts to contain the pandemic, we urge all residents to stay at home and observe social distancing guidelines and other precautionary measures against the disease, including regular handwashing with soap under running water and the use alcohol-based hand sanitisers. If you must go out, do so wearing facemasks. Cover your mouth and nose properly when sneezing and/or coughing. Also do well to report anyone with oversea travel history.”
