Akwa Ibom discharges two coronavirus patients, takes delivery of medical equipment

The Akwa Ibom State government at the weekend said it had discharged of two of the 29 persons undergoing treatment for the dreaded COVID-19 from its medical facilities.

The State Incident Manager and Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dominic Ukpong, who made the disclosure in Uyo, clarified that the lucky residents had been certified negative by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), bringing to 16 the number of those treated and discharged of the viral infection since the first incidents on April 1, 2020.

He said Governor Udom Emmanuel had expended much on healthcare delivery, especially emergency operations, resulting in the “100 per cent recovery rate currently experienced in the state.”

“Yesterday (Friday), you saw the magnificent 300- bed facility that the governor put up at Ituk Mbang, and I told people that it is going to compliment the services provided in the earlier facilities provided at Ikot Ekpene and the one here at the Ibom Specialist Hospital,” Ukpong recalled.

The commissioner regretted that the activities of persons, who sneaked into the state under the guise of bringing in livestock and food items, probably accounted for the huge coronavirus cases in the last couple of days.

He commended health officials for being responsive and dedicated.

Owing to the development, Ukpong said the governor had banned movements of livestock and installed surveillance cameras at entry points.

Of the 45 confirmed cases so far, the state has recorded two deaths.

Besides, Governor Emmanuel said Akwa Ibom had taken delivery of more than 20 containers of medical equipment for onward distribution to health centres across the state.

Speaking during the inauguration of the 300-bed isolation centre at Ituk Mbang, Uruan local council of the state at the weekend, he reiterated that despite providing over 25 per cent of the country’s revenues, the Federal Government had failed to set up a laboratory or treatment centre in the state.

Emmanuel submitted that he had set up a PCR laboratory to handle the novel coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

He added that his administration had acquired more ambulances to ferry people from strategic locations to the general hospitals, “so that we can be well assured of effective healthcare delivery.”