The Lagos State Government has revealed that if the state continues to record over 200 to 300 positive cases on a daily basis, it will soon run out of isolation centers. It added that with the increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases in the state, only moderate to severe cases will be managed at the isolation centers while the asymptomatic and mild cases will be managed at home.
In a chat with journalists in the state on Friday, the Commissioner for health, Prof Akin Abayomi insisted the modalities for the community based/home-based care will be defined as to who qualifies to be managed at home and who will be managed at the isolation facility. He noted that if Lagos continues to record over 200 to 300 positive cases on a daily basis, the State will soon run out of isolation centers.
Hence, the need for introducing the home-based care within a week or two. He said the community/home-based management will be introduced to Lagos to reserve the isolation center for the critically ill. “We will be operating from the primary healthcare centers (PHCs) and that is where we will decide who qualifies to be managed at home or at isolation center.
“Part of the condition for being managed at home will be; is the home adequate? “Is the person feeling unwell or having pre-existing medical condition or having difficulty breathing?
“The answers to these and more will determine where the person will be treated for COVID-19”
The Commissioner stated that though there are plans to recruit more manpower, there are volunteers who are being trained at the moment and will be deployed for the home care management within a week or two.
“For the mild/asymptomatic cases who will be managed at home, we will call them, our volunteers/PHC workers deployed for that purpose will visit them, we will ensure they have regular consultation through our telemedicine online care, and we will monitor their progress too.
“At the same time, they will be given care packs and medications which includes pain killers and vitamins.
“We will also give enough information to the masses on their safety as well as that of their families and neighbors during the home management period.”
The health Commissioner further disclosed that there are plans by the state government to increase the capacity of daily test from 1,000 to 3,000 daily.
He said Lagos has so far done over 22,000 tests, adding that, the more tests are done, the more cases will be recorded, hence the need to quickly plan for more cases.
