‘Edo ready for second wave of COVID-19’

By Jethro Ibileke/Benin

A former Commissioner for Health in Edo state, Dr. Patrick Okundia, has said that the state and its medical professionals are ready for the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic.

He disclosed this on Tuesday in Benin, during a gala/award party organised by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association (MDCAN), Edo State Hospital Management Board chapter.

He said the fear of the first wave of Covid-19 drove the state’s response to ensure that it left no stone unturned in getting things done properly.

“The first wave of Covid-19 helped us to look inward into the decay in the health sector of the state and also assisted us to raise the level of our health system up to where it is now.

“We have the second wave coming now. We are actually over-prepared because all the necessary preparation, structures, personnel are all in place,” he stated.

He noted that the health sector’s response preparedness has been achieved in the state during the first wave, adding that it prepared the state for any other outbreak including the second wave.

Okundia disclosed that lives lost in the first wave in the state were those of vulnerable persons who could have died without Covid-19.

Also speaking, a former Permanent Secretary in the State Hospital Management Board, Dr. Peter Ugbodaga, charged members of the association to continue their professional development to be efficient and productive.

He noted that with the present crops of medical professionals and other people working with governor Godwin Obaseki, the state will achieve a viable health sector and a universal health coverage for all.

Earlier, the MDCAN’s Chairman and Consultant Gynecologist, Dr. Victor Ohenhen, said the event was to honour members who retired from the service and other members who were in the frontline of battling Covid-19 in the state.