The private sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) yesterday, strengthened the fight against the scourge with the handover of fully equipped isolation centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and donation of beds and accessories in Enugu State.
CACOVID is a joint initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aliko Dangote Foundation, Access Bank, UBA, GTBank and private sector organisations.
Representative of CACOVID and Regional Head, Rivers Region 2 of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ms. Blessing Ogwu, who handed over the centre in Port Harcourt, said the facility located at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt comprises of an isolation and treatment centre aimed at supporting the Rivers State Government in handling cases of COVID-19 infections in the state.
Ms. Ogwu further said the gesture was a response by private organisations in the country to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that they were also working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Government in that regard.
She explained, “We are here today as CACOVID, that is a group of Government and Private Sector Corporate Organisations in Nigeria that formed a coalition against COVID-19; and fighting together so that we all stay alive together. This facility has been presented to the Rivers State Government by CACOVID.
“It is both an isolation and a treatment centre. It is a three tent facility containing several beds and other facilities which we have handed over to assist Rivers State Government in handling all the cases that might come in. “It is our prayer that many cases don’t come in; but we don’t also want to be taken unaware. In Nigeria today, fighting this pandemic, we are our brothers’ keepers. So everybody is putting resources and ideas together, efforts and energy together to make sure the citizenry of every state and the federation as a whole will have attention in this common enemy that we all have”, she added.Speaking shortly after commissioning the facility, the State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Princewill Chike, lauded the coalition for the gesture, saying whatever effort that could be made to prevent further spread of the disease is welcome.
Speaking at the handover of the materials to Enugu State Government, member representative of CACOVID, Mrs. Chiaka Mbagwu, said the Coalition donated the beds and other accessories to assist the state government equip its isolation and treatment centers, to enable them accommodate more COVID-19 patients.