CACOVID strengthens fight against COVID-19 with donation of Oxygen Cylinders, Incinerator to LASG
By Moses Adeniyi
In the bid to further fortify momentum in the fight against COVID-19, the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) has donated no less than 260 Oxygen Cylinders and a sophisticated mobile incinerator to the Lagos State Government.
The donation of the oxygen cylinders with the mobile and portable incinerator made on Tuesday was delivered to the Infectious Disease Hopital (IDH), Yaba, and received by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health and Deputy Incident Commander on COVID-19 Management Prof. Akin Abayomi.
Commending the outreach, Prof. Abayomi, mentioned that the donation of the equipment is key to the demands of oxygen and management of the virus in the State.
According to the Commissioner, the State has recorded less than 400 fatalities in the second wave of the pandemic, which is minimal when compared to the records from other parts of the world.
The Commissioner who was quick to recognise the role of CACOVID in the fight against the pandemic, described their efforts as a show of profound support which is undeniable in the move towards flattening the curve of the virus.
He stressed that with the necessary supports, meeting the demands for oxygen in the second wave of the virus has not fallen short, stressing that the State has never for once had any record of shortage of oxygen.
He mentioned that while the IDH facility has an incinerator which is less sophisticated to the one donated, the augmentation of the facility with the donation of a more sophisticated incinerator which is durable over years, will go a along way in the need to decompose waste from the IDH centre.
His words: “What the Lagos State Government has been doing is anticipating the effects of COVID-19. We have talked about necessities; we have talked about oxygen; we have talked expanding our capacity and sure enough our major partners, CACOVID and other business support enterprises, have always come to the support of Lagos State by providing very essential platforms for us to improve and be more efficient with the manner with which we manage COVID-19 in Lagos.
“At one point, two months ago, this isolation centre was almost filled to capacity and we were using at least five times our oxygen usage for the day. That meant that we needed to put an extra supplies of oxygen from our friends.
“We needed to install brand new COVID-19 oxygen generating plants. We had to think about logistics; we had to pull oxygen from every part of Lagos State and even beyond Lagos, just to meet the credible need that the second wave put on us.
“But as Lagosians, we always manage to bring a situation under control and I’m happy to say here that with all the support we’ve got including the infrastructures, the oxygen supply and generation, incinerators like this, the logistics, there wasn’t a day in Lagos where our demand for oxygen exceeded our supply.
“This come very useful to the State Government. This incinerator is extremely useful because the waste that comes from these isolation centres is not waste that can be handled normally. It’s bio-security waste and the best thing to do with bio-security waste to reduce its potential risk in community is to destroy it on sight.”
Disclosing that the State Government is at the verge of commissioning a new oxygen plant at Gbagada, he mentioned that the Government will continue to build the State’s oxygen logistics to guide against being taken unawares.
In her remark, the CEO Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, representing CACOVID described the gesture as a fulfillment of the pledge to fight with resilience in flattening the curve of the virus.
She mentioned that the incinerator is a mobile build-up which durability would outlive the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus transportable and usable as needs arise.
According to her, the incinerator was to further help in the management processes of waste management in fulfillment of the pledge of the coalition.
In his comment, the Chairman, African Industries Group, Raj Gupta, mentioned that the provision of the cylinders and incinerator is one of the crucial ways the firm which is part of the CACOVID structure has been contributing to the fight of flattening the curve of the virus.
Expressing continued support in the management of COVID-19, he disclosed that the company has been able to donate over 5,000 oxygen cylinders across Nigeria.
The gas cylinders donated were of different sizes while the durability of the large capacity mobile incinerator is expected to have a life span of up to 50 years.
