The Cross River Government has donated medical accessories to the University of Calabar’s COVID-19 Task Force ahead of the institution’s planned resumption on Feb.5.
The medical accessories, comprising liquid soap, face shields, surgical gowns, and surgical gloves and face masks, are to mitigate the spread of the disease in the school.
Dr Betta Edu, the Commissioner for Health, who made the donation to the committee on Thursday in Calabar, commended the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, for setting up the task force on campus.
Edu told the committee that she had earlier advocated the school’s resumption, but with strict compliance to the protocols of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Presidential Task Force (PTF).
She advised the committee to strengthen the university’s medical centre to form a strong enforcement team that would ensure that students, staff and visitors to the school complied with the the COVID-19 guidelines.
“To achieve this mandate, I want to urge the committee to also get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), sanitisers and infrared thermometer for the frontline workers.
“The no mask, no entry for all students, staff and visitors should be strictly enforced. I want to also recommend that the Rapid Gene Test Kit should be used for testing on campus.
“For us as a state, we are going to also provide PPEs, N95 face mask for the committee and other items as we move on.
“At this moment, we are going to incorporate the University’s COVID-19 Taskforce Committee into the state Emergency Operation Centre for ideas sharing and efficient management of the pandemic in the state,” she said.
Edu called on the VC to allocate operational vehicles to the committee with a view to enabling them to effectively enforce the protocols on campus.
Speaking earlier, chairman of the committee, Dr Kingsley Akaba, described the University of Calabar as a heterogeneous community, hence the need for the commissioner’s support and collaboration.
He commended the state government for being the first state in the country to initiate the use of face mask as one of the ways to prevent the spread of the virus.
“We are here today to seek for collaboration and support because we want to have a seamless academic session as students prepare to resume school on Feb. 5.
“On our part, with the support of the Vice Chancellor, we have already set modalities in place that would help us to effectively implement the COVID-19 protocols on campus,” he said.