Ebola: Schools will resume middle of September – FG ◆Says only two cases being treated in Lagos, P’Harcourt, other cities free of virus • ◆ABU student, LUTH patient test negative ◆British patient recovers, discharged ◆Abia to search for fleeing patients. camposnewsdesk-------- Primary and secondary schools across the country are now to resume from the current holiday in the middle of September instead of October 13 earlier decreed by the Federal Government in the wake of the outbreak of the killer Ebola virus disease (EVD). Onyebuchi Chukwu Federal Government announced the new development in Abuja on Wednesday following improvement in the management and control of the disease. According to Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) which met at the State House opted to review the order on resumption date based on advice from health experts that the disease has been substantially contained. He said only two patients currently being treated in Lagos and Port Harcourt. President Jonathan had since the outbreak of the disease in Nigeria made an update on it a mandatory feature of the FEC meeting, Chukwu noted. He stressed that it has been adjudged safe for schools to resume in the next few days following positive developments in containing the spread of the disease in Nigeria. He said the exact date of resumption would be decided and announced by the Federal Ministry of Education after its meeting with state Commissioners of Education. According to the minister, only 18 cases of the Ebola disease have been confirmed in the country so far: 14 in Lagos and four in Port Harcourt, out of which seven patients have died while eight have been successfully managed and discharged from isolation wards in Lagos. The fourth patient in Port Harcourt is the sister of the late doctor there who had secretly treated a quarantine escapee from Lagos, while the patient in Lagos is the wife of the same doctor. The number of secondary contacts still being monitored in Lagos stands at 41, and in Port Harcourt, 255 persons are under surveillance, said Chukwu. He denied reports that over 60 quarantined persons were missing in Port Harcourt. The total number of contacts discharged in Lagos after 21 days observation is 320. The late Port Harcourt doctor, according to the minister, will be decontaminated and buried in the city. He also pointed out that aside the two current cases in Lagos and Port Harcourt, no other case of Ebola has been confirmed anywhere in Nigeria, including Abuja, Calabar, and Zaria where rumours had been spread to the contrary. The minister urged the media and public to disregard reports on Ebola outbreaks not emanating from his office. He reiterated that government had been transparent and equal to the task of containing the virus which was imported into Nigeria more than a month ago by a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, on July 20. Chukwu disclosed that government was making plans to set up more diagnosis laboratories and centres in Abakiliki, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Bauchi, Jos and Sokoto, while the only available mobile laboratory that was deployed to Enugu has now been transferred to Port Harcourt, and will remain there for now. Meanwhile, 25 claims of cure for the Ebola virus disease have poured into the Ministry of Health Committee verifying such claims, while the possibility of sanctions or prosecution of the male quarantine escapee, Olu-Ibukun Koye, the ninth survivor, who secretly spread the disease from Lagos to Port Harcourt is not ruled out. Koye is listed as an ECOWAS diplomat, so the Foreign Affairs Ministry has been approached for advice on him. Chukwu lamented that Nigeria’s quarantine laws were actually obsolete although some punitive options were being considered against the escapee. On the other hand, a psychosocial examination of Koye would be conducted to ascertain his mental state of health. “Presently, he doesn’t have the virus in his blood now so he cannot infect other people but he has high antibodies which is just showing that he had the disease. He is part of the 18 cases that have been confirmed in Nigeria. “He is with us in Lagos, not in isolation because he is not sick anymore but because of his aberrant behaviour, we needed to be sure that there is nothing further that can prove risky to society. “Regarding what can be done, this is still at exploratory stage and we are looking at three possible areas. “One, we are asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since he is working for a diplomatic mission to advise us. “Secondly, we also need to look at our laws. What currently our quarantine law provides is too old, it came from the colonial period and I do know that in the National Assembly there are attempts currently to see how to amend that law and make it to be up to date. “The Federal Ministry of Health is also looking at that law, we are in touch with National Assembly so that we can also bring an executive bill if we have something different from what National Assembly is proposing. “But what is important is that both the Executive and the Legislature are looking at how to bring to current standard our current quarantine laws which are outdated. “But we are looking at what it provides even in terms of possible prosecution. “We also have the psycho-social team, which is part of the management team for this Ebola virus disease. You know sometimes we assume everyone is normal so we are looking at other aspects,” the minister said. In another development, the remains of the suspected dead patient at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) have tested negative to the EVD, Lagos State Government confirmed on Wednesday. Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Yewande Adeshina, speaking on a Channels Television programme, ‘Sunrise Daily’, disclosed that the laboratory result on the blood sample of the suspected patient came out negative like three others which had similar scare from across the country. Adeshina likened the renewed scare of EVD across the country to what occurred when late Liberian Patrick Sawyer brought the disease as an index case on July 20 into the state. “What we are seeing is a resurgence of the initial panic of what happened with Mr Sawyer. People are feeding on the frenzy, of the numbers that are going out and of the different stories that are out there,” she noted. She, however, pointed out that the frenzy associated with the disease is not really necessary, saying, “Ebola cannot be transmitted by simply coming in contact with the breath of a sick patient except through touch”. “We’ve heard of people dying and the first differential diagnosis is Ebola and it’s actually becoming very burdensome.” Rivers State Government on its part has appealed to church leaders to refrain from the practice of laying of hands on their worshipers. The government said to win the war against the Ebola virus, pastors have to distance themselves from laying hands on members of their congregation during prayers, noting that such method was one way of overcoming the problem. Speaking during a courtesy call on him by the Country Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Rui Vaz, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Rotimi Amaechi said while trusting their pastors, church goers should not hesitate to report Ebola cases to the appropriate authorities. “I have told the Commissioner for Health to call for a meeting with religious leaders not to lay hand on their followers to pray. They can pray from outside the church. “I am a miraculous child that came to power through the divine intervention of God. “But, for now, let us control the outbreak of Ebola. Let the religious leaders distance themselves from Ebola crisis and allow government handle it. “While you believe in your pastor, please, make contact with us to assist you defeat the virus. It is either you defeat Ebola in 21 days or Ebola defeats you,” the Governor said. Earlier, the WHO representative, Rui Vaz, told the Governor that the world health body would render technical support to the state to fight the Ebola epidemic. He advised the media not to create panic among the people in their reports but to instead give definite message on how people could guard against contracting the disease. Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) noted the advantages the outbreak of the Ebola disease have brought to boost personal hygiene. It said though there have been conflicting reports by government authorities about the status, spread and number of victims of the Ebola virus disease since the announcement of its outbreak in Port Harcourt on Wednesday last week, one good thing is the consciousness of personal hygiene the fear of the virus has engendered in the people. It noted that besides some reasonable efforts to keep their immediate surroundings clean and regularly disinfected, there is now regular washing of hands and use of sanitisers to keep the ‘no cure virus’ under check among the populace. A statement by state Chairman of the party, Felix Obuah, noted though that the greater concern the virus has brought is, whether the government and the relevant authorities are really serious about containing the spread of the Ebola virus. Also, Abia State Government has vowed to fish out all suspected Ebola patients that may have sneaked into the state from the neighbouring Rivers State. Commissioner for Health, Okechukwu Ogah, who stated this in an exclusive interview with punch newspapers in Umuahia, said he would liaise with his Rivers State counterpart to get the names of people suspected to have had contacts with the late Dr. Iyke Enemuo and later fled Rivers State. He said when obtained, such names would be made public so that members of the public would help government in tracking them down to avoid spreading the virus to residents of the state. From Uyo also came a report that Akwa Ibom State Government has described as false, information on the internet that cases of the EVD have been found in the state. State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Aniekan Umanah, in a joint statement with his Health counterpart, Ememabasi Bassey, said so far, no case of Ebola has been established in the state. According to the statement, the rumoured Ebola case at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital was unfounded, as “the medical authorities confirmed it to be case of allergies”. “In the case of the dead body brought in from Port Harcourt, it was confirmed that the deceased died of renal failure was buried in his community,” the statement added. Leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) also said on Wednesday that the Federal Government must take stringent measures to police those kept under surveillance. General Secretary of the Congress, Peter Ozo- Eson, who made the call in Abuja, told reporters that it was becoming worrisome, especially the recurring cases of abscondment of people placed on observation over suspected Ebola virus, adding that such people should be forced to comply with necessary restrictions. Ozo-Eson, who commended efforts made so far by the Federal Government in managing the outbreak and spread of the Ebola virus disease, however, stated that there had been some level of indiscipline at individual and medical levels which has led to the situation that has now created more spread and threat. From the United Kingdom (UK) came yet another report that the first British person to contract Ebola following its outbreak in West Africa has been discharged from hospital after making full recovery. William Pooley, 29, had been treated in a special isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Pooley was given the experimental drug ZMapp and has praised the “world class” care at the hospital. About half of the 3,000 people infected in the outbreak, which started in Guinea, have died. Pooley was working as a volunteer nurse in one of the worst affected countries, Sierra Leone, when he contracted the virus. He was unsure when he became infected, but started feeling sick and needed a blood test. He recalled the moment his fears were confirmed: “I was woken early that evening by one of the World Health Organisation doctors and immediately I knew it was bad news. “I was worried that I was going to die, I was worried about my family and I was scared,” Pooley added. Via punchng
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 05:06:54 +0000
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