By Olushola Okewole
The Multi-purpose centre built by the current administration of Ejigbo LCDA has been proposed as an isolation centre to assist the Lagos State government to manage persons positive with COVID-19 in the State.
In an exclusive chat with the chairman of Ejigbo LCDA, Hon. Monsuru Bello Obe, Echonews learnt that the proposal was in response to the appeal by the state to organisations to donate spaces usable as isolation centres to scale up the management of the pandemic.
Lagos State Commissioner for Housing, Hon. Fatal Akinderu is co-ordinating the logistics of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area.
It would be recalled that the state government began by decentralising the testing centres by choosing the Ajibulu Primary Health Care Centre in Oshodi.
ECHONEWS gathered that the government decided to set up more isolation centres following the records of daily increase in positive cases of Covid-19 in the state.
On Thursday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed that the positive cases in Nigeria had increased to 18,000.
NCDC announced that Nigeria recorded its single highest one-day coronavirus cases in the country with 745 cases reported in 24 hours.
It also announced the discharge of 344 patients from isolation centres across the country with five new deaths reported.
Lagos State, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria, topped the number of confirmed cases with total number of confirmed put at 7896.
As announced by the Lagos State Incident Commander, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, 98 patients who had fully recovered from Covid-1919 – 71 males and 27 females were discharged from the isolation facilities to reunite with the society.
The patients, 23 from Onikan, 17 from Gbagada, 14 from Agidingbi, 1 from Paelon Centre (an accredited private facility), 4 from Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, 17 from Eti-Osa (LandMark) and 22 from LUTH isolation Centres were discharged having fully recovered and tested negative to Covid-19.
With this, the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases that have been successfully managed and discharged in Lagos has risen to 1,283.
As at March 27, 2020, the total confirmed cases were 52, active cases 49, total discharged 3 while Nigeria’s overall tally was 97.
On Saturday Macrh 28, Lagos State Government took delivery of the 110-bed isolation facility on the Lagos Island, donated by GT Bank, where confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the State could be managed and treated.
Speaking with ECHONEWS, the Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Ejigbo LCDA, Dr. Wale Agosu, said the government has concluded the plan and would commence the process in Ejigbo LCDA.
He said the local government has agreed to donate a place to be upgraded to isolation centre to curb community spreading of the coronavirus.
According to him, the local council chairman is waiting on the state government to set up the facility, commission it and put it into use.
Dr. Agosu explained that the community isolation centre is created to manage the Covid-19 positive cases that are not critical, saying the complicated cases would be referred to the isolation centre at the state level.
He noted that the local council has followed up on the cases recorded from the community and made sure that they were well managed till they later tested negative.
He similarly stated that the local government has put in place free treatments at the primary health centres for other ailments, stressing that free deliveries, free drugs, free treatments, and subsidised treatment of other ailments were given to the residents.
He therefore encouraged the residents to be ambassadors of healthy living at this point in time and to always move in time to get adequate treatment for any health issue and quickly report symptoms noticed in them or other people around them.