The five COVID-19 patients in our state are hale and hearty, says Akwa Ibom

The Akwa Ibom state government says all five reported positive cases of COVID-19 in the state are hale and hearty while awaiting the conduct of a reconfirmation test.

Emmanuel Ekuwe, secretary to state government, said this during the routine covid-19 press briefing held at government house, Uyo, on Tuesday.

According to Ekuwem, the five cases earlier taken into isolation custody have not shown any noticeable symptoms, nevertheless they are under close observation by a team of specialised medical experts.

He said the state incident management committee has continued to intensify efforts at contact tracing following standard medical procedures although so far there is no downstream infections have been recorded.

He said Udom Emmanuel, the governor, is leading from the front in the fight against the pandemic and is building a 300-bed isolation center in addition to two fully equipped isolation centers in the state and providing all necessary essentials in preparation for any exigency.

“Construction work has commenced on a 300 bed Isolation Centre in Ituk Mbang to complement existing Isolation centers in IDH, Ikot Ekpene and Ibom Specialist Hospital, Uyo,” he said.

“The state government is working round the clock and deploying every available resource at its disposal to ensure that the situation is under control. We have so far procured and distributed large numbers of personal protective equipment, PPEs and other requisite tools to relevant health care institutions in the state, increased the number of isolation centers and set up a situation room manned by more than 50 medical experts.”

He, however, revealed that “plans are underway for provision of relief materials including rice, garri, flour and other essential food items to cushion and ameliorate the effects of the Quarantine and Restriction of Movement Regulations 2020.

“A disbursement committee will very soon announce the disbursement modalities directly to all villages in Akwa Ibom state. This mode of disbursements to village will enable trickle down to give succour to all and sundry”.

He said the state-owned rice mill, flour mill and various garri processing factories are meeting the food needs of the state and cushioning inflationary trends as well as lull in domestic economic activities.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged the receipt of donations from several well-meaning corporate bodies and private individuals and called on all corporate organizations located in the state to lend support in cash or kind.