*…as Lagos focuses on critical cases

By Chioma Obinna

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, on Monday, said although the state government was still isolating patients with moderate to severe cases, it had adopted another strategy where asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases in Lagos are isolated in their homes under a supervised arrangement at the primary level.

According to Professor Abayomi, Lagos State government was shifting its COVID-19 response focus on saving people who are critically ill, even as he said the virus had spread to slums and high density areas of the state.

Abayomi, who spoke during a live update on Instagram entitled “Flatten the Curve,” explained that “we are still using isolation and containment.

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“We want to know about people who are in the moderate to severe category early. If you have mild conditions, you can go home, isolate yourself and lie down for a few days.

“You may have some problems, but you can take paracetamol. It will go away in a few days and you will be alright.

“When you are unwell, self-medicate and you are not getting better, we encourage you to come up.”

Furthermore, he said flattening the curve was to slow the spread of the virus and not to stop the outbreak.

On testing, Abayomi noted that in medicine tests are only done when they can do something about the results.

He said the reason why they test was to find as many people as possible, save lives, and also slow down the rate at which people get infected, as well as give positive patients appropriate management.

He added that testing slows the spread of the virus and not stop the outbreak, adding that for people who are asymptomatic, they are isolated to prevent them from spreading the virus.

On the COVID-19 cases in Lagos, the Commissioner lamented that the virus had spread across slums and high-density areas in Lagos, hence, the need to protect the elderly.

The Commissioner further added that the pandemic had exposed the long years of infrastructure decay in the health sector, right from independence.

His words: “We are supposed to be spending 15 percent of the budget in the health sector. It also goes to show that the environment is the basis of the economy.”

Vanguard