By Ademola Orubon
The Ogun State Government has revealed that 98 percent of the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the State were asymptomatic and mild symptoms, adding that only two percent cases were severe, due to underlining health challenges.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, made this known when the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, led by Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib visited the State.
Dr. Coker said the State was confident to relax the lockdown imposed, as a measure to curb the spread of the virus, adding that the State had adopted community based care, where 20 primary health care centers had been identified and renovated across all Local Government Areas (LGAs) as isolation centres.
She explained that the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) would be responsible for swap samples collection, while healthcare personnel had been trained for the purpose, affirming that the plan would be sustained until vaccines were available to treat the virus.
The Commissioner highlighted some of the challenges facing the community- based care to include; the need for ambulances to move swap samples and patients in case of severity to reduce fatality, inadequate equipment and staffing of the 20 PHCs, as well as incinerators for proper disposal of medical waste.
She expressed concern over drastic drop in family planning and ante-natal visits, due to lockdown, a challenge which she noted, could increase child-birth or complications from unwanted pregnancies, increase in maternal and infant mortality, adding that, government had commenced activities to enlighten the public.
In his remarks, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, commended the proactive measures at every level of response of the outbreak, adding that the PTF’s visit was to brainstorm on how to support and ventilate different ideas to manage the pandemic.
“We have seen a very good coordination of your response to COVID-19. We are glad that Ogun State has created different context on the management of the outbreak”, he said.
He appreciated the State’s COVID-19 Task Force, for adopting a domestic response to fit its peculiarity, by involving communities and insuring the lives of the frontline workers.
