“They have to go through a process of Infection prevention and control training of all their staff …”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, on Sunday said about 17 hospitals in the state have approached the Ministry of Health for support after being inadvertently exposed to coronavirus patients.
Prof. Abayomi said the ministry through one of its agencies, Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFEMAA), is helping the hospitals decontaminate while it has recommended that some of them stop admitting patients until the process is complete.
He said on Sunday that a total number of 14 deaths have been recorded in Lagos, while only two of the 14 deaths happened at the state government’s facility.
“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 stated.
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Abayomi said the state is preparing the private sector through strict guidelines and certification on management and containment of COVID-19.
He said the ministry is actively engaging the private sector, training health workers, and increasing isolation and holding facility.
The commissioner added that 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.
“We’re no longer waiting for people to reach out to the state, but going into communities to identify cases,” he said.
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.
