A twenty-bed COVID-19 isolation bay has been inaugurated at the University of Calabar in Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.
The facility, comprising two tents has been equipped with ten beds each, designated for male and female patients of the hospital.
Leading the commissioning ceremony, was the Chairman of the Cross River State COVID-19 Response Committee and Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Florence Obi said the facility was set up within three weeks sequel to the decision of the institution’s senate to reopen it for academic session.
Proactive measures
Professor Obi, who was celebrating One hundred days in office as the first elected female Vice Chancellor of the university since its establishment 45 years ago, hinted “we took proactive measures before we reopened this institution and those measures are still in place.”
“We have humidifiers, exit and entry tunnels across the universities, thermometres, handwashing equipment in all the lecture theatres and offices. The university COVID-19 response team are on daily sensitisation around the campus to ensure strict adherence to the use of nose mask and other protocols,” Obi stressed.
She hinted that these proactive measures have contributed to raising the consciousness of students and staff and to also ensured prevention.
“By the grace of God, we have not recorded any incidence since we resumed. We stand out as one of the few universities that took the risk of reopening fully for academic activities. Our students are already taking their first semester examinations,” she said.
Timely initiative
Dr. Edu commended the Vice Chancellor, Professor Florence Obi for taking the initiative to set up an isolation bay to cater for the needs of students and members of staff in the case of any eventualities.
Edu said, “I had said that for us to go back to school, we need to get our Vice Chancellors and the universities’ senates to consent to structures that would produce results and protect our children.”
“We cannot depend on a state or national PTF to protect over forty thousand children and students that would be coming back to school. So, we must decentralize the COVID-19 response at all levels. The federal and state must be able to decentralize and give powers to the universities to set up their own COVID-19 response team,” the Commissioner stated.
Sample collection
She promised to set up a sample collection centre within the proximity of the isolation bay, noting “I can promise you that we will use part of the isolation bay as our sample collection centre so that any student anywhere on campus can easily walk in and get his or her sample collected for diagnosis.”
“Beyond this, we will work to provide supplies. For the isolation centre, you will need Personal Protective Equipment, PPEs, and all other things health workers should be using. We would continue to update the health workers working at this facility on developments around the Coronavirus and this will be informed of continuous training,” Edu pledged.
The Chairman of the UNICAL COVID-19 Task force, Dr. Kingsley Akiba said that the university’s management decision to establish the isolation centre within the campus was to ensure smooth academic session by protecting the members of staff and the student population.
The University of Calabar remains the first tertiary institution in the country to establish a double tent isolation bay on campus
Lateefah Ibrahim
