Don’t use traditional medicine for COVID-19, Akwa Ibom gov warns residents

Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom state, has warned residents not to consider traditional medicine as an option for treating COVID-19.

Emmanuel, who spoke in a broadcast on Saturday, urged residents of the state to observe all prescribed hygiene protocols and emphasised that anyone caught outside without a face mask will be arrested.

He said the state incident management committee on COVID-19 has performed excellently in managing all the cases.

He said the two patients who died of the virus, were brought in unconscious and they passed on even before their test proved they were positive.

“Please don’t go on traditional medication because of the dosage. Don’t also go on self medication. We have enough facilities to manage these cases for now. Please obey all the rules. If we find you outside without a face mask, we will arrest you,” he said.

“Since we set up the incident management team, we have recorded 100 percent recovery in all cases that were confirmed positive.

“For the two patients that died, they were that were brought to us totally unconscious. In our case management file we have 100 percent recovery.”

The governor said the 300 bed isolation centre under construction in state will be completed within the next one week, saying that more ventilators will be brought in, in addition to the 13 ventilators the state has already.

“We will complete our 300 bed isolation centre by next week. But before then, medical experts will inspect the facility to check the case area to ensure that it is in compliance with W.H.O standard. In the centre, each bed will have its own oxygen tank. Also, we are bringing in a lot more ventilators. We have 13 ventilators.”

He maintained that ban on social gatherings including burials, weddings and church programmes was still in force, saying that anyone caught trying to host a burial or any other ceremony will be arrested.

He said by the end of year 2021, all the ten federal constituencies in the state will have a fully digitised secondary health care facility, announced that contract for the reconstruction and furnishing of the tenth general hospital will be awarded in the last quarter of 2020.