12th May, 2020
Ariwodola Idowu
Ekiti State’s COVID-19 Testing Centre will be ready this week, Gov. Kayode Fayemi said on Monday.
He said that testing for Coronavirus would commence at the centre, thereby ending the practice of sending samples of suspected victims to Abuja.
The governor spoke during a visit to the expanded Infectious Disease Unit, at the Oba Adejugbe General Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.
“This week, we will be formally launching our testing centre at the teaching hospital. So, I’m confirming this to you,” Fayemi told journalists after the inspection.
He explained that the testing centre would help the state test as many people as possible, as part of government’s efforts to further contain the spread of the Coronavirus in the state.
According to him, the expansion of the state’s isolation centre to a 100-bed capacity was also another proactive step to prepare against a possible surge in the number of patients.
The governor, who put the present capacity of the centre for COVID-19 patients at ten beds, stated that the state already had 10 active patients, while the results of some contacts were being expected.
The development, according to him, had justified government’s plan to expand the centre to a 100-bed capacity.
“We are expanding our infectious disease hospital bed space, as you know we have just ten-bed space in the one we are using now, but there is an increase and we have to prepare for the worse while we hope for the best.
“We want a reduction in the number of COVID-19 positive patients in the state, but right now, we have about ten active cases, that means all our beds there are fully occupied.
“So, we have to expand to a 100-bed space. So, if we have any additional patients, we are prepared for them,” he said.