Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, on Saturday, informed residents of the state that his government was already working on palliatives to ease the pressure on them following the partial shutdown of activities as part of the precautionary measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
The governor, however, added that the state would need to work on accurate data and design that would ensure the palliatives would get into the hands of those who truly needed them.
According to him, it was important that the palliatives to be put in place got to those with genuine needs for them and that they would not be cornered by middlemen.
A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that Governor Makinde stated these during a phone-in interview programme on Ibadan-based Fresh 105.9 FM, as well as and a one-hour Tweetchat via his Twitter handle @seyiamakinde on Saturday.
The statement noted that the government had stepped up enlightenment campaigns on COVID-19, while also enforcing measures on the lockdown of activities in the state.
Governor Makinde maintained that as part of measures to contain the spread of the disease in the state, the state government in collaboration with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has set up a diagnostic centre to handle testing of samples, noting that the state was only awaiting NCDC endorsement.
He explained that once the centre was certified, it would become easier to test more people.
Governor Makinde added that apart from the preventive measures, the state had set up isolation centres, with 4-bed isolation unit in Ogbomoso, 10-bed at Jericho, 4-bed at UCH and 100-bed capacity at Olodo, Ibadan, which would be ready on Thursday.
He noted that the ICU beds in the state currently had ventilators.
The governor further noted that the state had Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers in all 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas, and that Local Government Caretaker Chairpersons were already involved in enlightenment campaigns and implementation of directives, complementing the state-wide campaign and efforts to prevent Covid-19 in the state.
