The Oyo State Task Force on COVID-19 says the state has tested 14,356 samples out of which 2,860 were positive.
Prof Temitope Alonge, the Coordinator of the Oyo State COVID-19 Isolation Centres, made the disclosure on Monday in Ibadan.
He, however, said the state had 1,420 recovered cases while there were 31 deaths.
Alonge said that the isolation centres run by the state had recorded zero fatality since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state in March.
“Oyo State’s isolation centres are those at the Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo, Ibadan; Chest Hospital, Agbami, Ibadan; Igbo-Ora in Ibarapa; Saki in Oke-Ogun; Awe near Oyo and the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso.
“Though 31 deaths have been recorded in the state since the index case of the virus was discovered in March, none of the fatalities took place in the isolation centres set up by the state government.
“The fatalities occurred at some private and other medical facilities outside those run by the state government and the deaths were due to comorbidities or underlying ailments in the deceased,” he stated.
Alonge noted that the zero fatality recorded at the state’s isolation centres was due to the holistic approach adopted by medical personnel managing COVID-19 in the state, robust nutrition and exercise regimen.
He said that the medical personnel at the state’s isolation centres regularly embarked on a comprehensive assessment of patients and proper management of any underlying ailment.
“Treatments at the state’s isolation centres actually commence very urgently and we pay attention to every complaint of the patients.
“Our health care workers have been very prudent and meticulous because most times when these patients come in and claim they have no symptoms, we take time to clerk them and ask detailed questions.
“So, we found out that in clerking them, many of them that claim they do not have symptoms actually have. So, we address those symptoms and we have added all manner of care to address their symptoms.
“The symptoms they think they don’t have or they think can be ignored, when they present them to us, we pay attention and deal with them
” Of course, if we deal with that along with coronavirus, we capture virtually all their complaints.
“Again, their nutrition has been very good, they have been on a high protein diet, the environment is conducive, they do exercise twice a week and they do aerobics and dance.
“We have gone beyond just saying a patient is positive, we do baseline investigations to check their liver functions, check their kidney functions and blood for malaria parasites.
“We do a comprehensive assessment both in clerking and blood tests. So, at the end of the day, some infections in their system that they are not even aware of which coronavirus will worsen are taken care of.
” We pick them up early and begin to work on them,” the don said.
Alonge said caring for the sick was a wonderful experience, adding that a two-year-old and a 95-year-old had been successfully treated to recovery at the centres.
“We have a wide range of patients; the average range is 34, also we have taken delivery of a child at the Olodo Infectious Disease Centre before and the baby is COVID-19 free and the mother too tested negative.
“As I speak, there are two pregnant women and one nursing mother there.
“We have every category of patients: millionaires, the poor, bank managers, directors, deputy directors of parastatals, government agencies. So, it is a mixed thing.
“Patients spend an average range of 10 days or at most, three weeks.
“Any patient that is spending more than three weeks has other problems that we are coping with,” Alonge said.
(NAN)
