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The Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Edo Chapter has called on the Edo State Government to further reduce the infectious spread and fatalities of Covid-19, by shutting all borders into the state.
Dr Adesuwa Urhoghide-Edigin, the President of MWAN in Edo, made the call in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday in Benin.
“All Edo state borders should be shutdown, both land and air.
“All COVID-19 incidences we have had in Edo State came from outside the country or those that had contact with Lagos. If our borders were shut down early enough, the numbers of Covid-19 patients would not have risen.
“Closing borders leading into the state is one of the fastest ways to deal with Covid-19 in the state.
“More needs to be done to safeguard the great people of Edo State and especially health workers, who at this time are at the forefront of this fight.
“The Edo State Government should provide interest-free survival loans for the poor in the state.
“We also enjoin the state government to deploy economic palliatives to cushion the effect of this pandemic by providing tax breaks and waivers on other routine bills, provision of food packs or discounted food vouchers for children in the state,’’ she said.
According to Urhoghide-Edigin, isolation centres should be built in separate designated places in the event of more cases. The isolation centers can be built as tents under 60 hours.
Urhoghide-Edigin advised that only health workers providing emergency service should be at work to reduce the numbers of workers facing the hazard of being infected.
She added that only emergency clinics should run in the tertiary hospitals, and that patient care should be strictly restricted to very severe cases.
“The government should provide free masks for residents of the state and there is an urgent need for the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for doctors and other frontline medical staff in hospitals in the state.
“We are especially concerned about reported increase in complaints of domestic violence at this period around the world.
“We have deployed a 24-hour helpline for Edo State +2349091846143 and implore the state government to step up similar services to protect vulnerable people in the state,’’ she said.
She commended the fumigation of markets currently ongoing by the Edo State Government.
