Ahead of the resumption of lectures on February first, the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has unvieled two Covid-19 testing centres to serve the school community.
The school also inaugurated a world-class treatment facility provided by the Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited.
Prof. Stephen Okodudu, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution, who showcased the facilities, said the provisions were made to safeguard the health of students and members of staff amidst academic activities.
Okodudu said the university put in place adequate measures, including online lectures for large classes to ensure the safety of the students.
Okodudu said: “We can sustain it. We did not build from block up. We suspended them on ceramics. The treatment centre we got is a donation from a company and those who gave it to us are committed to supporting us.
“The testing centres too; we have come a long way. We have been on it since November. On the whole, I think it is sustainable if we have come this far. It is to begin that is the difficult aspect of it, sustaining it is easier.”
Okodudu said the university would ensure strict compliance to COVID-19 protocols by the students.
He said: “The thing is that we have put up advisories to the staff members and students to maintain all COVID-19 protocol. At least, use a face mask. If you cannot afford a surgical face mask, you can use the ones made with clothes.
“We have also said that globally, everybody is encouraged to carry a hand sanitiser and it is within the reach of every student. We have also trained responders to ensure that nobody enters the campus without obeying COVID-19 protocol.
“For large classes, we have facilities that they (students) can stay in the comfort of their homes and take their lectures. There will be no reason for them to come around for lectures.”
He insisted that the university would not permit the sale of hostel rooms or crowded spaces, adding that only those the institution allocated spaces to would be allowed to reside in the hostels.
He said: “What we have to deal with now is the issue of room occupancy ratio. We have had before a situation where six students stay in one room, including squatters and we will not allow that this time. What we have decided now is no squatter in the hostels. It has been outlawed; we will enforce it this time.
“We have allocated bed spaces to known students, known matriculation numbers with known departments and facilities. But somehow, we find a situation from the report of the Dean of Students Affairs where some students sell off their bed spaces to their fellow students and probably go out and get an apartment. It is not going to be healthy for us in the circumstance of this pandemic.
“Especially, to engage in contact tracing because the name we have on the register is the name of the person whom space was allocated to. The person who bought will not have his name there. The Dean and his team are under some kind of obligation to ensure that anybody who comes there is the person that is supposed to be there”.
He also warned that the university would not allow students without nose masks to take lectures.
He said: “Those who do not have a nose mask will not enter the classroom. One year down the line, I think the lesson is there. It is not a punishment for the students. The pandemic is not a joke. So, no lecturer will allow any student without a nose mask to come into the classroom.”
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