COVID-19: Delta State Yet To Record Any Case Of Delta Variant — Health Commissioner

By Donald Ojebo

The Delta State Government has said that the state had not recorded any case of Delta Variant as the third wave of the COVID-19 virus spreads in the country and assured residents that the state government was monitoring the trends to ensure lives were saved.

The Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, stated this during his unscheduled inspection visit to the Central Hospital, Sapele.

“So far in Delta State, none of the samples gotten and sent for testing returned as positive to the Delta Variant but be that as it may, every doctor should know what to do when confronted with a COVID-19 patient, especially when such a case is said not to be mild, ” he revealed.

Dr. Mordi said that the mild cases should be addressed through the home treatment option, adding that just few days ago all the 25 Executive Secretaries from the Local Government Health Authority were brought together in Asaba and sensitised on the roles they were expected to play, including the issue of the third wave of COVID-19.

He said that in the situation where serious cases that needed hospitalisation were brought to the hospital, such cases should be referred to the State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara or the Federal Medical Center, Asaba, adding that along the line, if there was a need to modify the plan, it would be done and ensure the basic drugs were given and certain preventive apparel made available.

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“All the state government has done and put in place during the earlier waves of COVID-19 should not be jettisoned and health personnel should be vigilant in order not to be caught unawares,” he added.

In the same vein, the commissioner has charged management of Government Hospitals to synergize with the State Contributory Health Commission in order to maximise the benefits inherent in the scheme.

He gave the charge during his meeting with the Zonal Medical Director, Mariere Memorial Central Hospital, Ughelli, Dr. Gregory Anighoro, and other Management Staff of the hospital.

The commissioner who was responding to an issue raised by the Zonal Medical Director that the hospital was being owed by the commission for services rendered since last year and yet to be paid said he had been engaging with the commission on it and assured that the matter would be amicably resolved.

He said that in his engagement with the commission, it was discovered that a good proportion of the claims emanating from the hospital to the commission had errors in the claim of funds and that at times there were drugs disparity between what was prescribed and diagnosed.

Dr. Ononye therefore counseled that preferably a Medical Officer be dedicated to head the Desk as this would help reduce the observed errors drastically, adding that with this development, the commission wiould begin to pay for services as at when due and in turn the hospital would be able to get payments for services rendered.

He said that if this issue was not addressed early enough, it would put a lot of pressure on the Drug Revolving Fund in the sense that the inability of hospitals to get paid as at when due would starve the Drug Revolving Fund of cash for continual purchase of drugs.

“The right thing to do is for hospitals to continually review their activities to ensure that they work in accordance with the prescription of the Contributory Health Commission,” he added.