• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Enugu health workers lament non-availability of protective gadgets

Enugu health workers lament non-availability of protective gadgets

Enugu State health workers complain of non-availability of protective gadgets, which exposes them to danger in the fight against coronavirus in the state.

Some of the health workers who spoke with our correspondent under anonymous said they were posted to border areas with security agents to check both vehicles and drivers coming into the state.

The vehicles, the health workers said, that were supposed to be coming into the state were those carrying food items alone, but surprisingly a lot of transport vehicles were allowed into the state with passengers and that the health workers were not fully equipped to check the passengers.

According to them, they are endangered in the face of the deadly coronavirus pandemic for not having enough materials to protect themselves.

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“We don’t have enough face masks, no sanitizer, no thermometer for checking temperature and logistics like transport among others, then how do we effectively work. Do you go to check a vehicle without face mask, do you know the health condition of those in the vehicle,” they asked.

As we speak to you, “to encourage all the health workers in the state is to provide adequate protective gadgets to each and every one of them, both on the field and at the primary health centres who handle cases in rural areas,” they said.

“We commend the governor for his efforts and determination to fight the pandemic in the state and that he graciously earmarked N330 millions to fight the pandemic; therefore the ministry of health is expected to provide the necessary equipment for health workers to put in their best,” they said.

Our correspondent also noticed that the border closure was a sort of opening a money minting office for the security men at the post, instead of ensuring that all the vehicles are checked and stopped. The security of lives of the people living in Enugu State as far as this pandemic is concern is in danger if those at the border are not properly checked.

We don’t even known whether cement is among the food items accepted, because we observed that some vehicles carrying cement are allowed to pass through the border. The worst aspect of it was that some personals on official duties are sometimes delayed not to pass while those vehicles carry building materials are allowed after collecting money from them, which is detriment to the interest of the residents of Enugu.

The Enugu government should have used the securities it can control at all the boundaries such like the state Vigilante, MOT, and local government chairmen of those local governments at the border, using president general and Igwes of such communities to stop those coming into the state from infested states and to ensure that they do not come in without completing the necessary requirements at the border.