Tina Amanda
University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, has commissioned a fourteen bed isolation, treatment and testing center for COVID-19 cases in Rivers state.
The Chief Medical Director of UPTH, Professor Henry Ugboma, during the commissioning of the facility, said UPTH is ready to fight COVID-19 pandemic in the state, as it was earlier incapacitated due none availability of materials
According to him, the isolation, treatment and testing center is originally a twenty bed capacity which will be expanded further to accommodate more patients of COVID-19 cases, stressing that the testing and treatment Center is open to all.
“Today we are commissioning the second isolation, treatment and testing center specialized for COVID-19 cases, sponsored by the Federal government. The first isolation Centre was used to manage Lasser fever and Ebola fever cases in the state.
“The good thing is that the Federal government through Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC has sent the RT- Polymerase Chain Reaction PCR equipment for testing COVID-19 cases in Rivers State, which is ready for installation.
“Rivers State is a metropolitan city were all people come in from different part of the state and World, so it is expected that we should be ready for this infectious pandemic that has taking over the world.
“Any issue to do with Corona virus disease be it suspected or not, the doors of the Teaching Hospital is open to all. We have expertise, we have staff, people are interested in the wellbeing of people of the state, our doors are open twenty four hours to receive, test and manage people with COVID-19.
Professor Ugboma further said that UPTH is working in synergy with the state government to fight COVID-19 in the state.
“What is commissioned today is a fourteen bed capacity, the state also has an Isolation and treatment Center, we are going to be partnering with the state government, in case we have an overflow of COVID-19 cases, we will take it to the state isolation Centre.
“We are discussing with them, we have already set up accreditation team as instructed by the Federal Ministry of Health, team from UPTH and so many other places will be joining with the state team. We hope that the accreditation for various isolation and treatment Centers of private hospitals will soon start operating”
