Committee on Covid-19 In Ondo Seeks Cooperation Of Political Parties, Religious Bodies |The Source

By Ayodele Oni, Akure

In a move to reduce the spread of the dreaded global pandemic in Ondo state, the interministerial committee on Coronavirus (COVID-19) has sought the cooperation of religious and political leaders to achieve success.

Chairman of the committee on COVID-19, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, during a media chat with newsmen in Akure, said government has taken cognisance of the socio-political context of the State, yet there is the need to comply with necessary precautions that can safeguard residents.

According to him, political parties and other affected stakeholders must embrace other means of convincing voters, rather than encouraging mass gathering of the people, or engaging in acts capable of compromising COVID-19 guidelines.

He noted that where gathering is unavoidable, the proper use of face masks, hand washing practice, use of hand sanitisers and physical distancing should be encouraged.

Prof. Fatusi maintained that as part of efforts to flatten the curve of its spread, the Interministerial Committee is currently reviewing its existing guidelines, part of which will take into consideration the social, economic and political sector of the State.

The Chairman, who hinted that new sets of personal protective equipment will soon be distributed to health workers in the State, stated that aside about 400 health workers that were earlier infected, no health worker has been infected with the virus recently.

While calling for collective efforts towards stopping the spread of the virus, the Don said testing laboratory and isolation centre in Ondo are at 90 per cent completion stage.

He appealed to religious leaders in the State to re-double their monitoring mechanism in order to ensure that worshippers adhere to the guidelines while congregating.

The acting Commissioner for Health, Dr Jibayo Adeyeye, said since the outbreak of the pandemic, Ondo State now has a total of 1539 confirmed cases and 30 deaths while most of the patients have been treated and discharged.