In a bid to contain and manage the coronavirus disease if it spreads to the state, the Akwa Ibom state government has acquired 13 ventilators and other equipment.
The equipment which had been installed at the emergency unit of the Ibom Multi-Specialty Hospital, was on Wednesday, inspected by Gov. Udom Emmanuel.
Gov. Emmanuel who was led on the tour by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Emmanuel Ekanem said the facility was part of efforts by the state to tackle the virus in the event it gets to the state.
He said the visit was to ascertain if the facilities were functioning in the event of any confirmed case of corona virus in the state.
Emmanuel commended the commitment of both the Chief Medical Director of the specialist hospital, Prof. Emmanuel Ekanem, and the Commissioner for Health, Dr Dominic Ukpong, for their foresight which caused the government to improve the condition of the hospital.
Emmanuel said he was satisfied with the state of the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Theater, Ventilators for adults and babies as well as other state of the art equipment recently acquired by the government.
According to him, the new emergency theatre is unprecedented and can be compared with any standard government hospital anywhere in the country.
He further said his administration would continue to be proactive in providing healthcare facilities to Akwa Ibom people in line with international best practice.
“My visit is to ensure that they have expanded the number of beds that we ordered to accommodate extra 20 facilities in case of any emergency and I’m happy with what I’ve seen.
“It is not just to check the state of preparedness that we came, it’s to make sure what we’ve put on ground are functional and are working well.
“I came here with the experts so that we can have a look, to see that those things work well. We wanted the whole 13 ventilators checked to be sure they are working very well, even though we don’t have any incident now of the COVID-19 in the state.
“I’m sure you saw the kind of emergency theater we have there. I want to be corrected, if that is in any teaching hospital in Nigeria, let somebody show me or take me there,” Emmanuel said.
Emmanuel said that the facilities put in the hospital was not in reaction to the coronavirus scare, saying that they were provided to cater for the health needs of the people.
The governor commended the efforts of the State medical team and assured that the government would continue to monitor the healthcare situation in the state to be ahead of the outbreak of any disease.
“We are interested in every aspect of illness and to make sure that all our citizens are well taken care of.
“We don’t just react. We put things in place to take care of the health of our citizens, because every single life is as important as the life of the governor.
“It is not only coronavirus that we should be concerned about. Malaria kills too. So we are interested in every aspect of illness and to make sure that all our citizens are well taken care of,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state, the governor signed an order to close all borders and entry points into the state until April 30.
