The Lagos State government has established sampling centres for the coronavirus disease to ease the stress of health workers who have to visit several local government areas for sample collection.
The commissioner for health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos yesterday explained that the centres will enable the response team to have a better view of what is going on and be able to diagnosis the virus at the early stage.
“We have decentralised the locations where you can have yourself submitted for sampling. So what we’ve done is to move sampling stations to the local government areas. And if you feel that you have any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, you can present yourself to these decentralised sampling stations.
“They are not testing stations, they are sampling stations and if you meet the criteria for testing, you will be able to receive the counsel of the staff and your sample will be taken.
“We are not just testing anybody; there is a criterion for testing. You either must have COVID-19 symptoms to meet the case definition or be in close contact with somebody that has been confirmed with COVID-19. Your samples would be taken and it would then be sent to one of our accredited testing facilities and those facilities will then perform the tests.”
According to the list released by the state government, the testing centre for the Somolu Local Government is Wright Memorial Primary Health Centre Emmanuel Street, Somolu; that of the Ifako Ijaiye LGA is at Mini Stadium College Road; Ojo LGA, Ojo PHC 1, Rest House, Ojo; Eti-Osa LGA, Ikota Primary School, Lekki-Epe Expressway and Surulere LGA, Surulere LG Secretariat, Alhaji Masha Road, Surulere.
Also on the list are Kosofe LGA which has its centre at Ogudu Area Office, Ogudu Roundabout; Amuwo Odofin, Amuwo Odofin LG Secretariat, 41 Road, Festac Town; Ikorodu LGA, Ita Elewa PHC Oriwu Road, Ikorodu and Igbogbo PHC, Bola Ahmed Way, Igbogbo. The Lagos Island testing centre is at Igan Iduganran, Adeniji Adele Road.
They also include Epe PHC, Epe-Ijebu-Ode Expressway; Lagos Mainland, Simpson PHC; Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Akere PHC; Ibeju Lekki, Awoyaya Mayfair Estate; Apapa LGA, Apapa Iganmu LCDA Secretariat; Alimosho, Bola Ahmed Tinubu PHC, Egbeda; Ipaja Mini-Stadium, Fela Field, Ipaja and Rauf Aregbesola PHC 1, Powerline Road, Okunola, Mosan-Okunola.
The sample collection centres are also at the Ajibulu PHC in Osodi-Isolo LGA; Ikeja LG secretariat; Sango PHC in Agege, Ajara Flagship Health Centre in Badagry and Isola Road PHC in Mushin.
The commissioner also said the state had yet to reach COVID-19 peak despite recording increasing number of cases recently.
“Seeing an increased number of patients does not mean that we are losing control. Lagos State has yet to peak. The point we are making is that the increase in number of cases per day is sustained but it is a gradual process. Had we not put these strategies in place, we would have been seeing a steep rise in the number of cases per day.”
On private hospitals approved to treat COVID-19 patients in the state, the commissioner said 17 private hospitals state had sought assistance in the management of COVID-19 cases.
“The First Cardiologists Consultant Hospital is a centre that has advanced care facility and they have requested that they come under the supervision of the ministry of health as a designated facility for patients that need extreme expertise for several complications of COVID-19. They have gone through the accreditation process and they are now designated as one of our isolation facilities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the state Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), Dr Yemisi Solanke-Koya, said one private hospital had been approved to handle COVID-19 cases in the state.
She said other private hospitals had also applied to manage COVID-19 cases in the state but they had yet to be approved.
“As of today in Lagos State, we have one facility that has been approved by the Lagos State to participate in the COVID-19 response. We do have requests from other facilities to get approval. The process is through information; HEFAMAA becomes aware of the fact that a hospital may be inadvertently exposed to COVID-19 and may be seeking to manage COVID-19 patients. We deploy our staff there so that the staff can inspect the facility according to the established protocol,” she said.
However, she declined to give the figures of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment in private facilities in Lagos.
With Punch report
