AbdulRazaq announces more measures to curb COVID-19

Kwara state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has hinted at more sweeping measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state.

Kwara currently has no confirmed case of the virus, but the state government has set up various preventive and safety mechanisms, including establishing and equipping an isolation centre to tackle the virus as Nigeria records more confirmed cases in at least four states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Gov. AbdulRazaq told reporters late Monday that COVID-19 may be treated as a national security issue which requires the support and understanding of every citizen to stamp out. 

“We will be announcing further measures this week in containing the spread of the virus. We also expect the federal government to come up with further measures.

“This may entail further restrictions on the movement of people in the interest of public health and security. It is a national security situation now which everybody should understand,” the governor said, a day after he directed civil servants to work from home and called for social distancing in the state.

He added that “we will take more measures this week to make sure our people sit at home. The civil servants will sit at home; their children will be at home. Please take care of your kids, don’t roam about. It is also the time to clean your environment and ensure that your community is clean.”

Gov. AbdulRazaq said the newly created isolation centre would be extended in the coming weeks to accommodate around 100 patients at a go while the state government works with the federal government on ongoing efforts to establish zonal test centres with the capacity to screen blood samples for COVID-19.

He commended the Commissioner for Health, Dr Raji Razaq and his team for the efforts to prepare Kwara state for any outbreak, saying the state is also strengthening the capacity of its personnel to deal with any emergency.

“Work is going on to extend this (isolation) centre. We are looking at extending it to accommodate about 100 patients and that should be ready in the next couple of weeks,” he told reporters shortly after inspecting the Kwara state Infectious Disease Centre at Sobi Specialist Hospital, Alagbado in Ilorin. 

The governor asserted that “at the last National Economic Council meeting in Abuja, state governors proposed that each state should have one laboratory to test samples of patients for any outbreak of diseases. But there are challenges with the resources. So first of all, let’s look at having zonal centres before state centres.

“It is not just (about) doing an ordinary blood test. Yes, you can have the equipment, but the reagents are not easy to come by. They are very expensive. So, we are waiting for the Federal Ministry of Health to see what they can accommodate.

“Right now, we send blood samples to Lagos. We are hoping that capacity will be built by the federal government so that we can first have zonal centres before we have state centres which will surely come.”

The governor meanwhile assured the civil servants of prompt payment of salaries despite the work-from-home directive and thanked traditional and religious leaders for their cooperation so far in the campaign to fight the virus.