- Says COVID -19 not a death sentence
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has scored Akwa Ibom State Government high for its effective contact-tracing and other critical elements in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
The state government noted that in a release entitled “Epi Summary of Covid-19 outbreak in Akwa Ibom State, dated April 21, NCDC singled out Akwa Ibom for the bold and courageous work the state government under the leadership of Governor Udom Emmanuel had done in a critical element of stemming the rate of the infection of the virus-contact-tracing.
It said the agency scored the State Government 99 percent in this critical area – Percentage of Contacts traced and 2.7 percent on the “Proportions of Contacts that have developed (suggestive) symptoms, which it described as a great success ratio.
“This is a great news and a huge testament to the proactive stance of His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel who has been front and centre in the fight to contain this deadly pandemic,” the State Chairman of the Covid-19 Management Committee and the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem had said exultantly.
“You will recall that at the outbreak of this pandemic, Governor Emmanuel had in his previous state broadcast to the people harped on contact tracing as a major means of stemming the rate of infection. We are happy that his effort and leadership has borne great results.
“Look at the level of preparedness the State Government made – the world class isolation centres at the Ibom Specialist Hospital, the one at Ikot Ekpene, and the one currently under construction at Ituk Mbang, this shows a leader who was prepared and ready for a time like this.
“Earlier this week, the governor had directed that an aggressive testing be carried out throughout the state, and we are seeing the result of that aggressive approach by the low number of people infected in the state,” the chairman had stated.
The statement noted that a patient, who earlier tested positive for the virus but was later discharged after testing negative twice in tests conducted by the NCDC, had commended Governor Emmanuel for establishing a very conducive and comfortable isolation centre at the Ibom Specialist Hospital which she described as “a home away from home”.
In an interview conducted by the State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the recovered patient who craved anonymity thanked the State Governor for all he had done to ensure that the spread of the virus was curbed.
“I am a living witness to the fact that contracting the virus is not a death sentence. I want to commend the governor for the robust and highly professional team he has put together; who are working hard to ensure that from the time samples were taken for testing to the time the result came out, we were treated with decency and well taken care of. Today, I am free of the virus and heading back to resume my normal duties. The governor deserves our praise and gratitude,” the discharged patient was quoted in the statement.
