Fred Itua, Abuja

 

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has revealed that it has opened two isolation centres at the National Hospital and at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, to cater for suspected cases of the virus.

 

Director, FCT Public Health Department, Dr Josephine Okechukwu, who disclosed this in Abuja, stated that though there has not been any identified case of the virus in the nation’s capital, the administration, she said, is taking all necessary measures.

 

Okechukwu revealed that at the moment, there is also an ongoing training by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Keffi, Nasarawa State, for health care workers that would manage the virus in the event of an outbreak.

 

She added that a lot was being done in the FCT, such as spraying of every passenger, coming into the country through the Nnamdi International Airport, Abuja, from high-risk countries. She said there is also screening of passengers on arrival.

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She stated that the department had also trained over 200 health workers in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Abaji area council on Lassa fever and Coronavirus, while sensitisation of residents is ongoing in all the six area councils of the FCT.

 

She said: “For us in the department of public health we have been sensitizing the communities. We have gone through the six area councils, except Abaji to sensitise them on Lassa fever and the Coronavirus.

 

“For the health care workers, there have been ongoing training on Coronavirus and Lassa fever and other epidemic-prone diseases. Over 200 healthcare workers have so far been trained in AMAC and Bwari area councils.”

 

She urged FCT residents to stop the panic over the virus, just as she enjoined them to take the necessary preventive measures, such as personal hygiene of handwashing with soap and water, minimising the culture of handshake and hug, use of alcoholic sanitisers, covering of mouth when coughing, as well as keeping the environment clean.