17 Hospitals In Lagos Exposed To Coronavirus- Health Commissioner, Akin Abayomi
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi has disclosed that 17 hospitals in the state have been exposed to Coronavirus. Abayomi disclosed this on Sunday while providing an update on efforts by the state government to contain the pandemic.
The commissioner noted that 12 out of the 14 COVID-19 deaths in Lagos occurred in private hospitals.
He explained that the state Ministry of Health through one of its agencies, Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFEMAA), is helping the hospitals decontaminate their facilities, and some of the hospitals have been told to stop admitting patients until the process is complete.
The Commissioner said;
“They have to go through a process of Infection prevention and control training of all their staff and if they go through the HEFAMAA certification, they will receive guidelines on how to manage COVID-19 patients in the future should the case arise where government will partner with private sector to manage COVID-19.
This scenario may present itself if we begin to see very large numbers of cases on a day-to-day basis and the Lagos state facility may be overwhelmed.”
Abayomi further revealed that the testing capacity has increased in the state, with each of the testing facilities testing 200 at a shift and a total of 1000 test per day. He said the ministry is actively engaging the private sector, training health workers, and increasing isolation and holding facility.
“We’re no longer waiting for people to reach out to the state, but going into communities to identify cases,”
he said.
Mr Abayomi said the state is increasing collaboration between the public and private sector to cope with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, including massive training of health personnel in infection prevention and control.