We still have 1 COVID-19 patient in Osun – Gov. Oyetola

Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of Osun says there is still one Coronavirus patient at the isolation centre in the state.

Oyetola in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, on Thursday in Osogbo, said the COVID-19 patient had been receiving treatment but still positive.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 18 COVID-19 patients had been treated and discharged in the state.

The governor, however, said that his administration was determined to forestall community transmission of the virus and rid the state of it.

He also said government had spent a lot on the procurement of modern equipment in the health facilities across the state.

The governor appealed to residents of the state to report any COVID-19 symptoms to the concerned authorities, saying that the government was determined to eliminate the virus in the state.

“What we are trying to do as a government is to be proactive enough because perhaps this is the time for community transmission.

“We have isolation centres in about three places and we are doing all of these to ensure that we have sufficient facilities to take care of possible community transmission.

“It is important for us to start to think about community transmission and as it is, we are making arrangement for not less than 300 to 500 beds with sophisticated ICU (Intensive Care Unit).

“I have inspected some of the facilities we have and I am satisfied with what I saw”, he said.

The governor, who attributed the success recorded in the management of COVID-19 in the state to government proactiveness, said the outbreak would have resulted in a serious danger if not for the priority given to the health sector.

Oyetola, however, appealed to Federal Government to support the state in its commitment to contain the community transmission of the deadly virus.

He said the support was necessary in view of the huge resources that the state had committed to contain the spread of the pandemic in the state.

“We have done all of these with our resources and this is the time for Federal Government to assist the state governments to be able to make sufficient arrangement to tackle the transmission,’’ the governor said.