Kwara State Government has announced the evacuation of the Sobi Specialist Hospital and dedication as a COVID-19 response centre in the state.
Kayode Alabi, deputy governor and chairman of the Kwara State Technical Committee on COVID-19 stated this while briefing journalists recently in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
“In addition to the facilities on ground, the government is evacuating the Sobi Specialist Hospital and dedicating it entirely as COVID-19 response centre, among other steps,” he said.
“The various wards at the facility with about 20 patients are being moved to nearby government hospitals with all services intact.”
Alabi, however, commended corporate bodies and individuals for their donations to the government saying, “The government expresses its appreciations to all those who have made various donations to the administration.
“While also calling on more corporate bodies and private individuals to support this effort, the government commended Senator Sadiq Umar (Kwara North) for donating N5million and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), for donating N10m to curtail the spread of the virus.
Others commended are Unifoam for the donation of 175 mattresses; Access Bank for the donation of 100-bed isolation tent; International Tobacco Company for donating 10, 000 bottles of hand sanitizers and 7,400 face masks; Rajrab Pharmaceuticals for giving the state 68 cartons of hand sanitizers and Kwara State Polytechnic for donating 200 bottles of hand sanitizers.
These donations will complement the 15million litres of sanitizers, 40,000 litres of anti-virus solution, and 200 infrared thermometers already purchased by the Kwara State government, among several other things, the deputy governor said.
Similarly, 121 oxygen cylinders have been filled and deployed to Sobi Specialist Hospital, while 500-KVA transformer has just been installed to provide constant electricity there. We will continue to make public all donations made to us for the sake of accountability and transparency, he added.
The deputy governor had while thanking everyone who have made any form of donation confirmed that the state has not confirmed any cases of COVID-19 at the moment.
Alabi assured that the committee will continue to be on the alert as he urged the public to be as specific as possible when offering intelligence to the medical team.
SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin
