The Oyo State House of Assembly has called on the executive arm of government through the Ministry of health to step up investigation on identifying people who had physical contact with the Ekiti coronavirus victim during his stopover in Ibadan.
The lawmakers during the Thursday plenary made this resolution after need to ensure adequate measures are in place to curtail spread of corona virus was raised as a matter of urgent public importance.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Oyo State came to picture after the death of an American male whose driver has tested positive to the virus, and the deceased’s caregiver, a female, tested negative to the virus in Ekiti State.
The Ekiti State Government has confirmed three of them had arrived the country through Lagos and made a stopover in Ibadan, Oyo State, before arriving Ekiti State.
While speaking on the need to investigate the visitors stayed in Ibadan (contact tracing), the Majority Leader of the house, Hon. Sanjo Adedoyin noted that the confirmation of the case and the visitors stopover in Ibadan needs to be taken serious in view to take measures towards curtail its spread.
He said, “They have to unravel details of the movement of the visitor, and his care giver and give feedback to the House within a week.
“The ministry of education, the teaching Service Commission, TESCOM and State Universal Basic Board, SUBEB to sentitize teachers and pupils as well as heads of various institutions in Oyo State to put measures in place to check steps that can aid the spread of the pandemic disease in our schools and institutions of learning.
“The National Orientation Agency, community and resident associations and religious bodies to put measures in place to improve on sensitization and orientation of the masses particularly the rural dwellers on preventive measures of hand washing, covering of mouth when coughing or sneezing and observing social distancing.”
According to the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin the ministry of information and culture is charged to also mount aggressive campaign against the disease in print, electronic media, poster billboards on precautionary measures to adopt.
“The spread of the virus is more terrible for us considering the possible inability of Nigerian medical institutes to handle tertiary health issues like coronavirus.
“The house will be inviting the commissioner for Health, Provost of our tertiary medical teacher hospital to communicate what the sector of the government is doing to keep coronavirus away from spread among our people.
“Even here in Oyo Assembly we will be leading by example. We are going to restrict visitors and encourage telephone conversations instead of physical contacts.
“We are going to equip ourselves well enough, and we will definitely prevail over this trial time like the nation did over Ebola and similar outbreaks,” he added.
