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Twenty-three new cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been reported in Nigeria, with 9 in Lagos, 7 in the FCT, 5 in Akwa Ibom, 1 in Kaduna and 1 in Bauchi State, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports as at 08:00 pm 1st April there are now 174 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria. Nine have been discharged with two deaths.
Currently, there are now 91 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lagos- 91, FCT- 35, Osun- 14, Oyo- 8, Ogun- 4, Edo- 4, Kaduna- 4, Bauchi- 3, Enugu- 2, Ekiti- 2, Rivers-1, Benue- 1, and Akwa Ibom- 5.
COVID-19: Gov. Emmanuel signs quarantine, restriction of movement law
Meanwhile, Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel had signed the restriction of movement order for 30 days and the quarantine and treatment of persons with COVID-19 into law.
This was contained in a press statement signed by the Commissioner of Information, Mr Charles Udoh, and made available to newsmen in Uyo on Tuesday.
Udoh said that the law was signed by the governor on March 30, and comes into immediate effect.
According to him, the governor has ordered the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, to head the special enforcement team and ensure compliance.
He appealed to Akwa Ibom residents to comply with the new law in view of the coronavirus pandemic, stressing that the restriction of movement will last till April 30.
Udoh said that the law has declared COVID-19 as a dangerous infectious disease, saying it constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health.
He said that to control the spread of the disease, the government has ordered the prohibition of all public burials, public weddings, and other forms of public gatherings.
“To control the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent the spread of the disease, the movement of persons and vehicles within the state are hereby restricted as follows: commercial tricycles shall carry not more than two passengers only.
“Minibuses shall carry not more than one passenger per row, and a private vehicle shall carry not more than two persons at the back seat and one on the front seat.
“All public parks, shops, eateries, clubs, restaurants, markets and offices within the state shall remain closed except for the sale of foodstuffs, drugs and other essential commodities.
“All public burials, public weddings, and other forms of public gatherings are for the time being hereby prohibited.
“All places of religious worship, churches, and mosques shall strictly observe the social distancing prescription of a minimum of one-metre spacing and not more than twenty persons per gathering.
“In addition, handwashing facility with running water, soap and sanitiser shall be made available.
“All borders and roads leading into and out of the state shall remain closed with immediate effect.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all interstate transportation and movement on land, air, water are hereby prohibited.
“Any person who knows or has reason to believe that he has symptoms of, or is suffering from the coronavirus disease shall not expose other persons to risk of infection by his presence or conduct in any public place or any other place.
“Any person who knows or has reason to believe that he has symptoms of, or is suffering from the coronavirus disease shall submit himself for quarantine and treatment.
“Any person who contravenes the provision of this regulations shall be prosecuted,” Udoh said.
He, however, said that government had exempted recognised security personnel, fire service personnel, medical health workers and other personnel on essential duties and food supplies from the regulations.
COVID-19: Gov. Emmanuel says 13 ventilators, health facilities in Akwa Ibom in good condition
Also, the Akwa Ibom State Governor had on Wednesday in Uyo on during a tour of facilities in the Quaternary hospital said that the 13 ventilators and other medical facilities in the Ibom Multi-Specialist Hospital were in good condition.
He said the visit the Quaternary hospital was to ascertain if the facilities were functioning in the event of any confirmed case of coronavirus 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 states 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 theatre 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.