Okon Bassey in Uyo
Five COVID-19 patients have been discharged from Ibom Specialist Hospital’s isolation centre in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
The state government also announced that it has recorded two deaths and 16 positive cases from 100 persons that were tested for COVID-19.
These facts were disclosed by Commissioner for Health, Dr Dominic Ukpong, when he briefed newsmen yesterday in Uyo.
Ukpong said that the five discharged patients have met the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocol standard of two negative tests before being discharged.
“I want to announce to you the result of the 30 cases that we sent for testing. Their final result came yesterday and only one of them is positive. The rest were negative.
“What we are doing today is to discharge those patients that tested negative. We have just discharged five of them.
“All of them will like to be anonymous, but you have seen them. We don’t want to publish their photographs and their names but they have just been discharged.
“It is not easy to be confined for upward of 22 days, sometimes up to 30 days while we are testing you to be sure that you are negative.
“I am happy to announce that COVID-19 is not a death sentence. That the government is doing a lot to make sure no one dies,” he said, adding only one active case was in the state isolation for now.
He debunked the story in some section of the media that 50 medical personnel were waiting for testing in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH).
“As a matter of fact, I communicate with the Chief Medical Director of UUTH regularly. I was there yesterday to inaugurate the isolation and treatment centre with ICU. So we cooperate and work together,” he said.
He advised residents to adhere to NCDC protocol of personal hygiene, regular washing of hands with soap and running water, use of alcohol based hand sanitizer and social distancing to stay safe.
