TheCable

The Akwa Ibom state government says it is leaving no stone unturned in tackling coronavirus and other emergency medical cases in the state.

Udom Emmanuel, the governor, made the remark when he inspected 13 ventilators at the emergency unit of the Ibom Multi-Specialty hospital.

The governor, who was taken round the facility by Emmanuel Ekanem, chief medical director of the hospital, inspected the intensive care unit, emergency theatre, ventilators for adults and babies as well as other state of the art equipment recently acquired by the state government.

Emmanuel told reporters that the visit was to ascertain the readiness of the state government to contain any emergency situation of disease outbreak, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are here to make sure what we have put on ground are working well. We wanted the whole 13 ventilators checked to be sure they are working very well, even though we don’t have any incident COVID-19,” he said.

“I needed to also ensure that they have expanded the number of beds, that we ordered for extra 20 facilities to accommodate, in case of any emergency and I am happy with what I have seen.

“It is not only Corona virus that we should be concerned about. Malaria kills too. So we are interested in every aspect of illness and to make sure that all our citizens are well taken care of. So we don’t just react. We put things in place to take care of the health of our citizens, because and we and we every single life as important as the life of the Governor.”

He said the state government places premium on the lives of its citizens and will continue to be proactive, rather than reactive in matters healthcare.

The governor commended the state medical team and assured that government will continue to monitor healthcare situation of the state, not just for coronavirus, but to be ahead of any disease outbreak.