The Minister of the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has paid a routine visit to the Idu Covid -19 Isolation and Treatment Center where he inspected the upgraded Oxygen Supply Facilities installed at the Center.
Briefing the Minister during the tour, the Acting Secretary of the Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr Muhammed Kawu said that the Center’s facilities had been upgraded from the capacity to treat mild cases of COVID-19 to the treatment of more severe cases that will require the use of oxygen.
Dr Kawu said that, towards meeting this end, a whole floor of the Isolation Center had now been piped to convey oxygen directly to 72 beds with the plan to increase this to 100 beds over the coming week.
Speaking after the inspection, Malam Bello said that the need to upgrade the facilities at the centre was necessitated by the second wave of COVID-19 which was evident by the end of 2020 and early 2021.
“As you are aware when the second wave of Covid-19 hit the FCT sometime towards the end of December and early January, we realized there was need to improve on the available bed spaces that have piped oxygen”, he added.
Bello noted that “hitherto, we know that some of the facilities had piped oxygen and others didn’t and we decided to upgrade an entire floor of the Idu Isolation centre so that at any point in time, we would have a hundred beds that are well piped with oxygen for patients 24/7”.
According to him, “Whatever happens, I think that we are prepared. But our prayers is that we don’t need to use these facilities and the way we are looking at the figures, we hope that really we may not need to use them.”
The Minister also expressed the appreciation of the FCT Administration to the Presidential Task Force on cOVID-19 and the Federal Ministry of Health for assistance provided for the upgrade of oxygen facilities at the Center.
He also commended the staff of the Center for their dedication to duty and efforts at containing the spread of the virus in the FCT.
Accompanying the Minister on the tour were the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola, the Chief of Staff to the Minister, Malam Bashir-Bornu and the Ag Secretary of the health and Human Services Secretariat.
Zainab Sa’id
