By Uzor Odigbo
The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has extended the work-from-home directive to all State Public Servants on Grade Levels 14 and below from Monday, February 1 to Friday February 26, 2021.
A statement signed by the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, noted that pockets of Coronavirus infections had been observed among public servants in the state.
Muri-Okunola stated also that the directive is in line with the Presidential Order on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations which states inter-alia that: “At all gatherings, a physical distance of at least two metres shall be maintained at all times between persons” and that “no gathering of more than 50 persons shall hold in an enclosed space, except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50% capacity of the space.”
While advising staff to stay safe by observing all COVID-19 protocols such as the use of face masks, physical distancing and regular washing of hands with soap and water as well as the use of hand sanitisers, Muri-Okunola reiterated that the directive excludes Essential Duty Staff, First Responders, as well as Officers saddled with assignments in the weekly Duty Rosters of their respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The Head of Service enjoined all Accounting Officers are to ensure strict adherence to all directives aimed at guaranteeing physical distancing in the workplace.
While giving up on coronavirus cases; Lagos State continues to be the epicentre of the Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, as of the 29th of January 2021, Lagos State had recorded a total of 47,871 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of this number, 34,094 have recovered in community, while 9,856 are currently active in community.
Over the last 12 months, about 3,988 COVID-related patients have been admitted into the various care centres across the State; with a registered fatality rate of approximately0.63% (301 deaths).
On issues bothering on testing, Lagos State has 21 private and 4 public health laboratories accredited for Covid-19 testing. So far, a total of 316,801 samples have been tested, with 47,871 diagnosed as Positive.
The test positivity ratio for January 2021 is 24%, which means that one out of every four tests returns positive. This is the highest monthly average recorded in the last six months.
It should be stressed that testing is free at all Lagos State public health laboratories, for all persons who fall within the case definition—that is, have symptoms such as fever, cough, cold, inability to smell or taste, headaches or general body weakness—or those who have come into close contact with anyone with any of these symptoms.
Testing at our public health facilities will continue to remain free but cannot be used for travel purposes. Anyone wishing to test as a requirement for either outbound or inbound travel or other work-related requirements must do so at any of the 21 private laboratories accredited by Lagos State for COVID testing.
On home based care, the Lagos State Government established a telemedicine service, EKOTELEMED, for patients who are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms that do not require admission, and can therefore be managed in the comfort of their homes.
EKOTELEMED is manned by well-trained medical personnel and is available on a toll-free line, 08000EKOMED (08000356633).
The state government would like to encourage as many people as possible, whose cases fall in the asymptomatic or mild category, to take advantage of this service.
So far about 5,000 patients have been reached through EKOTELEMED, and more than a thousand care packs delivered to patients in the Home-based care program.
Issues on oxygen, the Government wishes to reiterate that Oxygen is free at all Lagos State-owned Covid-19 Treatment Centers. The
Lagos State Government does not charge for the use of Oxygen in its Centers.
Considering that oxygen demand has spiked to between 300 and 400 cylinders per day across state-owned treatment facilities, the Government is working hard to ensure that availability and supply are very easily able to meet and even surpass this demand.
To this end, a second oxygen plant is under construction at the Gbagada General Hospital, and will come on-stream within the next seven days. It is expected that this will boost the in-house capacity and availability of oxygen across all State Government managed
FG TREATMENT CENTERS GRANT
In view of the rising profile of the coronavirus disease due to the mutating variants now being discovered globally; and to shore up our containment and management capacity, I have approved the sum of Two Hundred Million Naira (N200,000,000) to support the ongoing patient management and treatment efforts of two Federal Government Treatment Centers in our State.
To this end, LUTH will be receiving the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira and the Federal Medical Center, Ebute Metta will be receiving Fifty Million Naira. These sums will be disbursed on Monday, February 1.
IVERMECTIN
The State Government is aware of numerous international claims that the broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent/medication Ivermectin has shown some efficacy in acting as a sustained prophylaxis in containing/inhibiting the causative virus in SARS CoV-2. While this medication has not yet been approved for the broad treatment of the Coronavirus disease, the State Government has however taken the bold step of ensuring we have adequate stocks of Ivermectin, which will be initially deployed in a short clinical trial to ascertain its efficiency in our population to prevent and treat COVID-19 infection.
VACCINES
The Lagos State Government is aware that the Federal Government is expecting its first batch of vaccines (Pfizer) from the Covax Facility in February, and that Lagos State’s status as the epicenter of the pandemic in Nigeria will be duly considered in the distribution plan.
At the moment the State Government is finalizing its own vaccine strategy; while at the same time keeping a close eye on ongoing vaccine research, development and clinical trials. It is also in constant engagement with all the relevant stakeholders in that space, in the public and private sectors.
As the vaccines become available in Lagos State they will be prioritized to the people who need them the most frontline health workers, people with co-morbidities (medically vulnerable), the elderly (aged 65 and above, and subsequently, those aged between 50 and 65), and essential workers.
While aligning with the national strategy for deployment of the vaccines, in these early days, Lagos State will also continue to scale up the capacity to flatten the infection curve, and to minimize the fatality rate, through testing and treatment.
The government also acknowledges its responsibility to ensure that:
Lagosians are protected from price-gouging and other forms of exploitation.
The integrity of the vaccines is kept intact along the entire supply and distribution chain.
