* Configuration on-going at This Day Dome
* FCTA centres yet to take-off Collaboration key to success – Minister
* ‘Govt should isolate all suspected cases’ Only
two of the many isolation centres identified by the federal government
in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are fully ready and attending to
coronavirus patients, Daily Trust reports.
The two centres are
located at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) in
Gwagwalada, which has space for 33 patients and the National Hospital,
Abuja, which has capacity for five patients only. There are calls for
more well-equipped centres to meet the growing demands especially in
Abuja which is recording new cases on a daily basis. Some of the places
identified by the federal government as potential isolation centres in
Abuja in the event of COVID-19 explosion include the DSS Guest House,
Women Development Centre, Agura Hotel, This Day Dome and MKO Abiola
Stadium among others.
On its part, the Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA) said it will establish an isolation centre at
Asokoro General Hospital, and two others in Karu and Zuba in the suburbs
of the FCT. Checks, however, revealed that none of the three centres is
fully ready to receive COVID-19 patients. Investigations showed that
works is on-going in few of the places identified by the federal
government for establishing isolation centres while nothing is on ground
at other places.
So far, 48 cases have been confirmed in the
FCT, and there are fears that until relevant authorities redoubled
effort, some of the isolation centres would not be ready anytime soon.
The 33-bed centre in Gwagwalada has been fully occupied while some
patients have checked in at the National Hospital which has beds for
five people. The building at the National Hospital was upgraded since
2014 when the country geared up to deal with the Ebola outbreak.
Daily
Trust reports that officials had restricted movement around the unit
which has a dedicated lift for patients. One of the officials who gave a
description of the facility said each room has an en suite bath and
toilet, an air-conditioner, a ventilator and oxygen panel. During a
visit by our reporter, the unit was manned by 15 nurses, five doctors
and other personnel trained for the purpose. Authorities at the hospital
said they had taken in some patients and were prepared to take care of
them. “We are prepared and busy now,” Jafaru Momoh, Chief Medical
Director of the National Hospital, said. “We actually have some cases
now and we are prepared to receive more,” he added.
Why FG mulls
many isolation centres The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had
last Wednesday said that federal government would continue to expand the
isolation centres in the FCT to accommodate more patients. Speaking
during the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 news briefing, the
minister said, “With nearly 1,000 bed spaces identified in the FCT, we
would continue to expand the number of isolation centres and Intensive
Care (ICU) units across the country for those who may have severe
complications from the disease due to being immuno-compromised. “This
includes elderly people above the age of 70 or those with critical
underlying health conditions such as cancer, tuberculosis and HIV,” he
said.
Earlier, Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora,
told Daily Trust that government was working on a 700-bed space for
isolation of patients that tested positive for COVID-19 in addition to
the isolation centres at the National Hospital and UATH that have less
than 40-bed spaces for ICU. He said: “Last weekend, the PTF on COVID-19
team visited This Day Dome. Right now, the floor of that place is being
configured to make it a washable floor and mattresses and beds are also
being configured there. That place alone can accommodate up to 400
patients.
“Agura Hotel can take over 300; the Women Development
Centre will take about 160 patients while the DSS Guest House can take
close to 200 persons,” he said. He added that less than 4 per cent of
COVID-19 patients needed intensive care at isolation centres and that
most cases did not require hospitalisation.