COVID-19: Ogun opens oxygen therapy centre

The Ogun State Government said it had scaled up its preparedness to contain the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

It disclosed its preparedness on a day it opened an Oxygen Therapy Center to avoid a situation of scarcity of the life-saving consumables.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, who made this known in Abeokuta, said that the Oxygen Therapy Center, which sits within the Infectious Disease Hospital, Iberekodo, Abeokuta consisted of 20 beds of high dependency capacity.

Coker affirmed that the state and nation at large were in the deep of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He described the infection rate of the new strain as being very being high.

According to her, “the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital ( OOUTH) Isolation center is at 90 per cent capacity right now which means that people have to take cognizance of being responsible for their own health.

“Our positivity rate prior to December was roving around 0.7 – 0.8 percent but since December, particularly January, our positivity rate has gone up by about 8 per cent which means that this second wave is real.

“Hence, we all have to pay attention and do all the necessary things needed to protect ourselves.

“We are more concerned as a state but we are prepared. We have OOUTH, Federal Medical Center, Abeokuta, Ikenne Isolation Centers all available.

“Our Oxygen Therapy Center in Iberekodo, Abeokuta will help to ensure that we do not run out of oxygen like some states are experiencing at the moment.

“We are responding appropriately to contain and curtail this second wave,” she said.

The Commissioner, however, pointed out that Ogun had tested over 50,000 residents, a figure which is 1 per cent of its population as stipulated by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC).

She stated: “Ogun is one of the leading states in the number of tests carried out. We’ve actually hit one person of our population which is the stipulated number prescribed by NCDC for all states.

”We have tested over 50,000 residents of Ogun State given that our population is about 5.8m. We are now heading to 2 per cent. Out of the over 50,000 tested, we have about 2500 positive.”

Coker, therefore, said that of the non-pharmaceutical guidelines adhered to, there would be no overwhelming situation in containing the pandemic.

She said: “We are responding appropriately to contain and curtail this second wave but the success of our response has to be a collaborative one between the government and the individuals.”