*CACOVID alliance provides 32 isolation centres in 32 states, as Lagos commissions new isolation centre 鈹� Godwin Emefiele

* Lagos done 24,000 beds spaces, recorded 128 deaths, says Sanwo-Olu

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

In its continued efforts at supporting the ongoing measures to contain the further spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed the Bank鈥檚 readiness to partner with the private sector in defeating the damaging virus.

Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of CBN, stated this at the commissioning of an ultra-modern disease isolation centre in Yaba, Lagos State.

It was learnt that the newly commissioned isolation centre is an initiative of the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), a private sector initiative, established to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emefiele said: 鈥淭he launch of the newly built isolation centre will surely help in boosting the capacity of Nigeria鈥檚 healthcare system towards containing the spread of COVID-19 in Lagos State.

鈥淭he CBN is ready to work with the private sector and support any initiative in tackling this pandemic.鈥�

According to him, the efforts to contain the spread of this virus have had an unprecedented impact on the global economy, and indeed, the Nigerian economy.

He stated: 鈥淕lobal growth is expected to contract by over 4.9 percent in 2020 down from positive growth of 2.9 percent in 2019.

鈥淭he Nigerian economy was exposed to a twin shock, a public health crisis and revenue shock driven primarily by 55 percent drop in crude oil prices between January and May 2020.

Referring to the virus as an unparalleled shock, he said the requires that state governments along with the organised private sector work together to address these challenges in order to preserve lives and restore economic activities in our country.

鈥淲e have implemented several initiatives to cushion the effects of the pandemic, which include the N50 billion intervention facility for households and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) that were adversely affected by the pandemic; N100 billion facility for the health and pharmaceutical sector and an N1 trillion facility for the agricultural and manufacturing firms of the economy.

鈥淥ur inability to accurately predict the extent to which the virus could spread and how long it will last requires that we build a sufficient capacity within our healthcare system. 鈥淚n order to prevent the spread of the virus and preserve the lives of vulnerable Nigerians, this requires that all parties come together in order to deal with this great challenge,鈥� he stressed.

Emefiele commended the private sector-led coalition group for supporting the government by providing donations worth N29billion while adding that these donations are being used to build well-equipped isolation centres across the Nigerian Federation. 鈥淪o far, CACOVID alliance has provided about 32 isolation centres across 32 states. We anticipate that by the end of July, 39 isolation centres would have been established all over the federation,鈥� disclosed the CBN Governor.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State at the launch of the isolation centre related the 鈥榗an-do鈥� spirit of Nigerians as well as the private sector of the nation鈥檚 economy. According to him:

鈥淭he state has done at least about 24,000 and above bed spaces when Nigeria was about 3,000. It was a concern to us, thus, it is clear that we have the capacity to deal with this pandemic.

鈥淚 must commend what CACOVID has done as well as other coalition groups in the country who have supported the nation.鈥�

鈥淚n Lagos, we have seen slightly about 10,000 positive cases and we are managing them.

鈥淲e have seen 1500 discharged individuals from our isolation centres whilst we have seen about 5,000 who have gotten well and so as we speak we have recorded 128 deaths. He stated that the efforts speak volumes of how well the state is tackling the pandemic.

鈥淗e, however, noted that there was a challenge with identifying the critical and severe cases while adding that the state government is working on a strategy to monitor those cases.

鈥淭his facility will certainly add to our capacity and enable us to do a lot more in scaling up. This centre will see us building an international infectious disease- research centre,聽 isolation wards, doctors quarters and we will also commission a private sector-led morgue.

鈥淲e are excited that people can come here, get well, and go back to their respective homes.鈥�

Report says Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group and Chairman of the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), explained that the newly commissioned isolation centre is the most elaborate one that has been built so far.

Represented on the occasion by Zouera Youssoufou, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ADF, Dangote said: 鈥淲e are very proud because this isolation centre is a model of what we are going to be doing in the remaining states as we are still building more across the federation.

鈥淪o, it is with great pride that we hand over this to the Lagos State Government as this is very important.鈥�