The Ogun State Government has taken sensitisation campaign to faith-based organisations with a call on religious leaders to join the government in enlightening the public on the efforts contain the spread of Coronavirus
Addressing the Senior Pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God ( RCCG), at the Redemption Camp along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Commissioner for Health, Tomi Coker, noted that the global emergency posed by Coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, informed the need to sensitise religious leaders who are expected to take the message to their various communities.
Coker said that the index case of the disease which was transferred from Ogun State to the Bio-Security Laboratory in Lagos has been responding to treatment, pointing out that the 39 quarantined individuals have not in any way developed symptoms of the disease.
She said that the government deemed it fit to meet with faith-based organisations with the message of personal hygiene such that it will cascade to local government and wards, stressing that health educators in the state have been deployed to the hinterlands to sensitize the rural dwellers.
“We all know that Coronavirus is a global emergency. The index case, a 44-year old Italian national who was transferred from Ogun State to the Bio-Security laboratory is responding to treatment. Even the people who have been quarantined are not developing any symptoms.
“The need to keep spreading the message of personal hygiene at different levels is very important. Hence, we want to solicit your support in fighting this disease,” she said.
The Commissioner, who applied hand sanitizer on the hands of the Assistant-General Overseer (Administration) of RCCG, Funso Odesola and National Overseer of the church, J.O Obayemi, presented some packs of hand sanitizer to the church as a gesture from the state government.
In her remarks, the Team Lead, African Region, World Health Organisation ( WHO), Bola Olayinka, underscored the need for social distancing in the event of respiratory tract infection, urging that the habit of touching face and other parts of the body without washing hands should be discouraged.
“The person who is coughing or sneezing is expected to use a mask, not the other way round as it is been abused nowadays. It is ideal you use tissue paper when you blow your nose or cough and dispose of it immediately.
“We crave for the entire world to play their parts in reducing the transmission of Coronavirus,” she said.
Responding, the Assistant General Overseer ( Administration), Odesola, thanked Ogun State Government for the gesture, promising that the pastors would not fail to spread the good news of personal hygiene in their various localities.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Operations Committee (EOC) on Covid-19 has conducted training for Disease Surveillance and Notification Officer (DSNO) as well as Monitoring and Evaluation Officers in the 20 local government areas of the state, with a firm call on them to go to their various locations to effectively educate the people about the disease.
