PUNCH NEWSPAPER

The State Government has advised health workers in the state not to lose their guard because the state is yet to record any confirmed cases of the dreaded coronavirus.

The state Deputy Governor, Mr Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the advice during a meeting with the coordinators of primary health care workers in the local government areas of the state.

He urged the workers to intensify efforts at preventing the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

A statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, quoted the deputy governor as expressing dissatisfaction with the complacency of the health workers, urging them not to be carried away by the fact that Bayelsa had yet to record any confirmed case of the COVID-19 infection.

Ewhrudjakpo said, “The state government will not shy away from taking responsibility to be sure that we are putting all hands on deck to ensure that COVID-19 does not come into our state.

“And the only way we can do that is for those of you in the primary health care sector to do what is expected of you. For now, prevention is the best solution, and not the cure.

“Yes, ventilators are necessary but you can see that with all the sophisticated health system of the United States, Italy and other developed countries, they are not able to withstand COVID-19.

“So, clearly it is a prevention issue. Once you stop it from coming in, you’ve got it right. That is why all our emphasis and efforts should be geared towards prevention especially now that we don’t have any single case of infection.”

The local government primary health care coordinators later took turns to brief the deputy governor on their activities.