ANAMBRA STATE GOVT DEVELOPS STRATEGY TO CONTAIN COVID-19

Reporter : ONYINYE CHIJIOBI

In a bid to increase the survival chances of COVID-19 patients, Anambra State Government has rolled out a containment strategy for the pandemic called “Anambra State COVID-19 Chain of Survival Strategy (ASCOSS).

This was contained in a statement by the a State Commissioners for Health, Dr. Vincent Okpala.

According to the statement, the framework is a six-step management strategy that outlines what the citizens, patients and health workers must do at every stage in the management of the virus to ensure greater chances of survival for everyone.

The statement notes that the concept is developed by the Ministry to give the people a fighting chance against the pandemic.

It also explains that more people will survive the pandemic if there’s a deliberate and strategic containment framework that places emphasis on what must be done at any point in time.

The statement urges all citizens, especially church leaders, market associations, transport operators, to play their roles in strengthening the Stage-A of the ASCOSS.

Stage-A of the strategy lays great emphasis on strict compliance with COVID-19 safety protocol while Stage-B, emphasizes on early recognition of the symptoms of the virus.

Stage-C insists on early identification with the public health system by anyone, who detects the symptoms while stage-D emphasises early diagnosis and initiation of treatment by health care personnel.

It encourages health care providers to maintain a high index of suspicion with respect to diagnosis of COVID-19 in their patients, pointing out that Stage-E emphasizes on early initiation of contact tracing once a patient is confirmed to have the virus.