COVID-19: 600,000 Abuja households to benefit from palliatives – Minister

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said it will soon begin door-to-door delivery of palliative materials to 600,000 households in the six area councils of the territory.

The Minister of State for the FCT, Ramatu Aliyu, said the materials would be given to ameliorate the pains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

According to a press statement signed on Friday morning and signed by the Chief Press Secretary of the minister, Tony Ogunleye, Mrs Aliyu said there will be a monitoring team made up of civil society organisations, religious and traditional rulers, youth and women groups to ensure an equitable distribution of the palliatives. in order to ensure that this palliative gets to the poorest of the poor in the society.

“The first set of the palliative is targeted at 100,000 households in a council area, which is a total of 600,000 for the six area councils,” she said.

She said each area council would pick the items meant for their people at the main point facility of the FCT for onward distribution.

“In the unit level, you’ll have these nine people who will identify and mark all the houses that have been served the items,” she said.

To avoid crowding, the minister said that having identified each household, only the household leader would be invited to receive what is due to the family while the other members of the house remain indoors.

The minister said a reporting mechanism will be put in place for communities to report irregularities with their package.

She also said FCTA has made plans for water tankers to go round the suburbs to supply potable water to households even as she appealed to residents to stay indoors as it is the only safest thing to do now to avoid pushing the administration to adopt stricter measures in order to curb the spread of the virus.

“The FCT water board has been directed to liaise with other agencies such as FERMA to supply water daily to rural communities,” she said.

However, the minister did not reveal the date for the commencement of the distribution of these palliatives.

600 beds in treatments and isolation centre

Meanwhile, the FCT minister Mohammed Bello said the collaboration between the FCT Administration and private sector concerns will in the coming days make available 600 beds in various treatment and isolation centres across the FCT for the fight against COVID-19.

The treatment and isolation centres are Asokoro Hospital, Idu isolation centre, General hospital Karu and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.

Mr Bello said the Asokoro Hospital has been fully converted into isolation and treatment centre and can accommodate up to 100 patients inclusive of those that will require intensive care treatment based on medical expert advice.

He said the Asokoro Isolation and Treatment Centre will open this Friday.

Speaking on the Idu Isolation centre, the minister said the facility can accommodate up to 300 beds.

“We appreciate Polaris Bank for provision of 100 beds and Mr Fola Adeola of the FATE Foundation for the provision of 50 beds and other items such as monitors and PPEs.We also thanked the CCECC for providing the furniture, air conditioners and power and water to the facility,” he said.

He said the general hospital Karu is being retrofitted and upgraded into a standard Isolation and Treatment centre.

Mr Bello said more patients in FCT Isolation and treatment centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital will be released in the coming days if their test results come out as negative.

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On members of the public who violate the lockdown directive especially in some satellite areas, the minister said the continuation of the disobedience will give the administration no choice but to enforce stricter measures as it was determined to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases in the FCT.

Donations

The minister also said some corporate organisations made donations to the FCTA for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They include the MTN Nig PLC and Mikano for the supply of one 350 KVA generators each at the Karu General Hospital and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Isolation and Treatment Center, Julius Berger Nig. PLC for the supply of 350 hospital beds, GE Health for the repair of broken ventilators, GT Bank and Zenith bank for their efforts at the Karu General Hospital and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce complex respectively,” he said.

“Cash donations include the Bank of Industry; N100,000,000, CGC Nigeria Ltd N20,000,000, Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company , N15,000,000, Arab Contractors OAO Nigeria Ltd N15,000,000 and Gilmor Engineering Ltd, N10,000,000,”

The minister appreciated UBA Nigeria PLC for a donation of N300,000,000 to the FCTA and N200,000,000 to the NCDC as well as the NCC for a donation of N25,000,000.

He also mentioned Honeywell Group for its donations which have become a part of the palliatives to be distributed.

Nigeria’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, since the first record on February 27, are 288, including 51 recoveries and seven fatalities, as of April 9. There are optimistic views that COVID-19 is not yet a community disease in Nigeria and the comparatively low statistics correctly reflect the country’s true situation.