The Chairman of the Cross River State House of Assembly Committee on Health, Dr Ekpo Ekpo Bassey has decried the poor state of equipment at the state Isolation Centre, describing it as inadequate.
Speaking in a phone interview with DAILY POST, Dr. Bassey lamented that his Committee visited the centre and what they saw was grossly inadequate and urgent steps needed to be taken to improve the centre.
“For me, as the Chairman of the House of Assembly Committee on Health, we visited the isolation centre in the University of Calabar, Teaching Hospital and realised that few things are not there, the facility needs to be upgraded in readiness to any case we may have.
“The equipment that are not there, for now, are ventilators, inadequate beds and other essential items. We need to have more modern beds for patients, we are also supposed to have more trained personnel to manage whoever that would come, and we also need to have particularly, ventilators that are working in case we have cases.
“We have raised these issues when we visited the place and we were told that efforts are being made to provide them. The health care providers supposed to be well kitted so that they would also be protected while handling cases. Because it is an infectious disease, the area where the Isolation centre is located is supposed to be cordoned off by perimeter fence to ensure that people are not walking in and out” he said..
He regretted that those things that are lacking are not provided before now but however, commended the reasonable response of the state government and management of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) in making efforts to see that the place is ready at least to take off. “For now, there are only four beds that are functional and there is only one ventilator which was brought in from a department in the University but not adequate”
Consequently, on what the State Government has done to curb the spread of COVID-19, Dr Bassey said, “Let me begin by thanking the State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade for his proactive measures in coping with coronavirus response. “First, he gave directive to shut down all entries into the State which has gone a long way to curb the spread.
He also suspended the conduct of local government elections as well as stopping religious and social gathering and other measures
“And most importantly he inaugurated the State COVID-19 response team and promptly released the sum of N500m and vehicles to ease logistics.
