Nigeria's economic hub Lagos deploys countermeasures against COVID-19

Health authorities in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, deployed three levels of countermeasures to stop the spread of the COVID-19 which included medical, security and research, an official said Monday.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, who disclosed this to reporters, expressed confidence in the response approach initiated by the state Incident Command Center to tackle the outbreak in the country.

Sanwo-Olu visited the state-owned bio-security and containment facility at Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba, where an Italian diagnosed with COVID-19 is being managed.

The virus was brought into the country by the Italian citizen who came to Nigeria on February 25 from a business trip in Milan, Italy.

According to him, the state remains committed to every effort geared toward preventing the human-to-human transmission of the virus.

He said Nigeria healthcare officials had been working around the clock with infectious disease control professionals from the international agencies to ensure the countermeasures being deployed to contain the virus achieved the desired results.

"I am very delighted with the level of preparedness and our response to stop the virus from spreading in our country," he told reporters.

The governor said the state had already upgraded its isolation facilities at the IDH in case of escalation in the number of cases.

Sanwo-Olu said two additional containment centers had been created with 80-bed spaces and necessary medical equipment to manage cases.

There are two mobile isolation wards of 15-bed capacity each stationed in the hospital, he added.

Sanwo-Olu, however, frowned at the misinformation trailing the COVID-19 case being managed at the IDH, saying that the public deserved to get accurate information about the management of the patient in isolation.

He urged the media to approach the appropriate quarters for updates and developments on the case being managed.

"Our citizens need to be calm and assured that the professionals deployed to handle the virus outbreak are constantly on the ground to do it," he added.

"The media should communicate and give an accurate report to our citizens to let them know that authorities and the professionals that need to be on the ground are working tirelessly to curtail virus," the governor said.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has tasked the three tiers of government to intensify public awareness on COVID-19 in order to curtail its spread in the country.

Saliu Oseni, Chairman of Lagos NMA, said efforts should be made toward increasing sensitization on universal precaution among health workers and the public with an emphasis on frequent hand washing.

According to him, sensitization should be increased, especially at the local levels to ensure that every citizen is made aware of the symptoms of the disease and measures to take to stay safe.

He said intensified awareness would help to reduce the risk of exposure to people coughing, stressing that collaborative effort was needed to contain the virus.

Oseni urged the government to ensure a constant and adequate supply of gloves, face masks and hand sanitizers at hospitals to protect health workers.