Ekiti State government have ordered Public and private hospitals to henceforth test all patients with fever, cough, catarrh and the likes for COVID-19.
The state commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Oyebanji Filani who gave the directive in a statement in Ado Ekiti said the move was part of efforts to halt the spread of the virus in the state.
Filani explained that the symptoms of the current wave of COVID-19 is similar to some other known and common diseases such as malaria and respiratory tract infection and that it may also be asymptomatic.
He instructed all Health facilities in the state to contact their respective Local Government Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (LGDSNO) for modalities to conduct the test on their patients.
Filani warned that the state government would not hesitate to sanction any hospital that fails to comply with the directive.
The commissioner, who called for the support of all stakeholders towards wading off the virus, stressed the need for the general public to cooperate with healthcare providers to achieve the desired goal.
